A Transdimensional Adventure
by Solerwolf21
Summary: Sonic and his friends get sent into a new dimension one filled with ponies? This should be fun.
1. Chapter 1

_I_ _'_ _m just gonna hop right in, summ_ _a_ _ry at the end of chapter._

 _ **Chapter 1: New Adventure**_

 **(P.O.V. None)**

It was a normal day in Mobius, bright, sunny, and just pleasant. A blue streak can be seen traversing the land at a speed not possible for any normal, sentient being. It just so happens to be that it is a blue hedgehog running through a canyon, enjoying the feel of wind passing through his quills. This is the hero of Mobius, the main protagonist of his world. His name is Sonic the Hedgehog, fast the wind and just as free.

"Come on slow poke, I thought this was supposed to be a race!" He shouted back behind himself to another hedgehog. A white streak could be seen catching up to him in little to no time at all.

"What do you mean, I'm right here blue boy, and I'm not gonna be losing to you anytime soon, especially since this is our tie breaking race." The white hedgehog said. This hedgehog is Soler, a hedgehog who doesn't like to bring up his past much. His white quills are styled much like Sonic's, except the ends of his middle quills, which point to the sky. He bears blue streaks on his quills, head, ankles, and wrists. His gloves and shoes both have identical X-marked straps on them as well.

The two hedgehogs raced through the canyon to break their tie. The two have been friends ever since Soler popped around Knothole a long time ago. They're also rivals trying to one up each other or show who's superior over the other. They were neck and neck, blazing through the canyons.

"Come on blue, I know you can go faster than that." Soler teased Sonic as he took the lead on him.

"As if!" Sonic retorted as he caught back up with him, "Let's see if you can keep up kid." Sonic said as he ran past Soler. Soler watched as Sonic took the lead and started to parkour through the terrain. He jumped from the ground onto the side of the canyon wall and ran along it. He then jumped back and forth between the canyon walls until he reached the top of the canyon. Soler was kinda amazed by his agility but he wouldn't let him get the benefit of knowing it, and yawned.

"Sorry, was that all you got? I can do that in my sleep." Soler shouted. Sonic smirked and rolled his eyes. "And Sonic, if you were smart, you would've noticed that you lost some of your speed during that little performance of yours." Soler stated. Sonic's smirk faded away.

"So what if I lost some speed? I'm still gonna win." He said in a cocky tone. Soler shook his head.

"Yea good luck with that blue. I'll see you back at Knothole, slowpoke!" He responded as he boosted off past Sonic. Sonic grinded his teeth.

 _Can't let him win_ _._ He thought as he boosted himself to catch up to him.

 **(P.O.V. Outside Knothole)**

"I wonder where they could be?" said a highly irritated red echidna.

"I'm sure they're just racing here like normal. You know how those two are when they're around each other." said a yellow, two-tailed fox. The irritated echidna was Knuckles, the Guardian of the Master Emerald. The fox is named Tails, the youngest of Mobius' heroes, but he is just as experienced as his peers, so only a foolish few question his intellect. The two were waiting on the Hedgehogs to get there. One of Tail's machines had been picking up weird readings lately and he wanted them to check it out.

"I mean, they're supposed to be the fastest things alive, but they're late." Knuckles said to Tails, "Fastest my butt."

"Come on Knucks, I'm sure there almost here as we speak." Tails said trying to reassure the echidna.

"Tails you've said that five times already." He replied. Tails was going to refute that, but couldn't think of anything, so he just blinked and went back to looking out for them. Just as Knuckles was about to shout even more, they saw two dust clouds moving towards them. Tails got out his binoculars to see who's coming, knowing well who it was. He could see the two speedsters running neck and neck straight towards them.

"See Knuckles, I told you they were almost here." Tails said triumphantly. Knuckles just rolled his eyes and watch as they got closer. They were coming at them at incredible speeds.

"They're not gonna stop." Knuckles said blankly. "Yes they will. They know how to control their speed enough to stop themselves." Tails said matter-of-factly.

"They're gonna crash." Knuckles said again blankly.

"No they won't. Like I said, they'll stop themselves." Tails said reassuringly. Knuckles sighed, walked over, picked up Tails and walked out of the course of the two speedsters. As soon as Knuckles moved them both out the way the two came crashing into the doors that lead into Knothole. As the dust settled, they could see the two speedsters tangled up with one another twitching from the pain.

"Told ya." Knuckles said with a smirk.

 _And that_ _'_ _s the first chapter of my new story. I_ _'_ _m still kinda new with publishing on this site so I'm gonna start out_ _with short chapters. C_ _hapter two will be up soon after this one, so hang on with me and this story will get good. Solerwolf OUT!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Just like before just gonna hop right in. I'll leave something at the end idk yet._

 _ **Chapter 2: New Adventure Pt.2**_

 **(P.O.V. None)**

It was another beautiful day in Equestria thanks to Celestia raising the beautiful sun. An outstanding castle that houses one of this world's newest princess, in Ponyville. The new princess is in her library, reading one of her books intensely, the world around her seeming like nothing. It consumed so much of her attention that she didn't notice a little purple dragon walk in with a letter for her.

"Hey Twilight I got a letter for you from Celestia." the dragon said. She continued reading, not even reacting to the little dragon, whose belly scales shined almost like emeralds.

"Uhh Twilight. You got a letter from Celestia, you know the part ruler of Equestria, your old mentor. Rings any bells?" he said. She still didn't move or notice his presence. He sighed, "I hate it when she gets like this." he said to himself. Just then a rainbow mane-colored pegasus trotted into the room.

"Hey Twilight you ready for some more flying practice?" the pegasus asked but she then noticed that she wasn't the only one trying to get her attention. "Hey Spike," she said and the dragon looked behind himself.

"Hey Rainbow Dash. You need Twilight too, huh?" he asked her.

"Yeah she wanted some help with her flying so I offered to help with a little practice. But it seems that she's wrapped up in another one of her books, huh?"

Spike nodded his head, "Yeah, and I need her because I just got a letter from Celestia for her, but she hasn't even noticed me." Rainbow put a hoof to her muzzle as she was thinking of a way to get Twi out of that book. Then, an idea popped into her head and a very mischievous smile grew on her face.

"Hey Spike, I think I know a way to get her away from her book." Rainbow said with a grin, "I'll be right back." She flew out of the room. Spike wondered what she was planning. Rainbow returned with a small cloud in her hooves as she flew behind Twilight.

"Rainbow, what are you–?"

"Hush! Now just watch the magic." she interrupted him, placing the cloud in the air. Rainbow leapt on top of the cloud and began to bounce on it. The ivory white cloud began developing into a menacing black, a low rumbling emanating from within it. With the cloud having built up as much darkness, and rumbling, as it could, Rainbow did one final pounce on the cloud. A huge lighting bolt struck down behind Twilight. Only the crack of the lighting, and a scream, could be heard.

"CRASH!"

"AHHHH!" Twilight screamed and she somehow flew to the ceiling of the room, panting harder than if her life was actually at stake. Rainbow and Spike were on the ground laughing uncontrollably at her. As Twilight was regaining her composure, she saw the two laughing on the ground. She landed right in front of the two, a massive scowl on her face.

"Why would you DO THAT!?" she shouted at the two who were still in fits of laughter.

"Because you were too wrapped up in that book of yours to notice us." Rainbow managed to say in-between her chuckling.

"Yeah Twi, you were so into that book you didn't notice us. So we had to find a way to get you out of it." Spike added as his sniggering winded down.

Twilight didn't look very amused with their explanations, "Well, oh I don't know, maybe you guys could've just shook me or touch me or something. You didn't have to do all of that." she exclaimed.

"Well yeah, we could have, but this was way funnier." Rainbow said as she also cooled off from her laughing.

Twilight just let out a sigh as she shook off the scare, "So what was it that you two wanted that's so important that you had to take me away from my book?" Twi asked.

"Well I wanted to see if you were up for some practice with those wings of yours." RD said.

"Yeah and I came to give you this letter from Celestia." Spike replied.

Twilight levitated the letter from Spike's hands and read it.

 _Dear Twilight Sparkle,_

 _I hope you and your friends are doing well and that you are learning more on how to be a mentor towards Starlight Glimmer. Hopefully, that'll help you become a better leader. I write to you today to inform you that I have been feeling shifts in space, and Luna has been feeling them as well. We don't know too much about the subject ourselves since we rarely have to. We wanted to inform you in case any weird or unusual occurrences happen around Ponyville. Thank you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Princess Celestia._

Twilight finished the letter and placed it down on a nearby table. "So what did the letter say Twi?" Spike asked.

"Oh nothing major, just the princess saying hi and checking up on us is all." she responded.

"So Twilight, you still up for some flying?" Rainbow chimed in. Twilight thought on it for a second.

 _Maybe if I fly around I might be able to see if anything is out of place around Ponyville,_ Twilight thought.

"Yeah RD, let's go fly around for a bit." she said to the pegasus.

Rainbow flew up with glee, "Oh yeah! Now I can show some new moves that I've been working on and it's gonna be sweet." RD exclaimed.

"I'll stay here and clean up a bit before heading out." Spike added. With that last exchange, Twilight and Rainbow flew out of the castle. As they flew above Ponyville, Rainbow was going on about some new tricks she learned from some of the Wonderbolts and about how she and Rarity solved a crime. Twilight wasn't paying much attention to Rainbow's stories, instead making sure that everything was in order around Ponyville.

The cake shop was still in place, Sweet Apple Acres still had apples on the trees, no ponies were running around in a panic, everything was normal. She then realized that Rainbow was nearing the end of one of her stories so Twilight decided to tune in to hear the end of it.

"So we all were back stage and Rarity showed them all her evidence and cleared my name. It was so awesome to be a part of the show." Rainbow finished.

"Yeah that sounds like it was a real adventure Rainbow." Twilight said.

Rainbow looked at her knowingly, "Twi, you weren't paying any attention to my story were you?" RD asked. A bead of sweat dropped down the side of Twilight's head.

"Well, uh, you see, I uhh...No, no I wasn't sorry." Twilight apologized.

Rainbow sighed, "It cool, Twi just tell me what's on your mind."

"Well Celestia said more than just hi," Twilight started, "She said that she and Luna have been feeling some distortions in space and that some things might be out of the normal, but everything looks fine."

"Maybe the princesses were wrong this time." RD said.

"Yeah maybe you're right." Right then, there was a bright flash in the sky that blinded them both. Noiseless, but the bright flash lasted for a few seconds before fading away as if nothing ever happened. They both opened their eyes again and looked around to see if everything was fine.

"I don't know what that flash was but I don't like it." RD said. They heard a boom far off, and saw a white blur moving fast into the overfed forest in the same direction of the boom.

 _That's chapter two. I might push the first part into another chapter. Depending on how I feel the story is going to progress. Thanks to those who have left some reviews and those who have read it, and I encourage others to do the same. Well I should have Ch. 3 up sooner or later, depending on school and such. So this is Solerwolf OUT!_


	3. Chapter 3

_You know the drill._

 _ **Chapter 3: New World**_

 **(P.O.V. Tail** **'** **s Lab** **)**

In Tail's lab, the two-tailed namesake of the lab was showing his friends his new data and the Hedgehogs were recovering from their crash from earlier.

"Man, blue, your head hurts." Soler said as he was rubbing his head.

"Well, your heel hurts. It landed right in my gut." Sonic retorted.

"Well, my heel wouldn't have gotten in your gut if you would have learned how to stop properly." Soler said back.

"Well, you wouldn't know how hard my head is if you would've just backed off at the end because you knew I was going to win." Sonic said smugly. This made Soler glare at Sonic, virtually steaming.

"What do you mean you had the race? Clearly, I had the race. You just didn't want to admit defeat like you should've." Soler shouted.

"Well, did you think I was just gonna lie down and let you win a race I clearly had. As if dude." Sonic shouted back.

"You had? No, you mean I had the race, slowpoke." Soler said back.

"As if! I had the race.'' Sonic replied.

"No, I did."

"No, I did."

"No, I did!"

"No, I did!" The two went back and forth for a while as Tails and Knuckles were looking at the data Tails had collected.

"See Knucks, there seem to be shifts going on in our reality and it's spiking at random times." Tails said to the echidna.

"Yeah, you're right that's weird." Knuckles replied while observing at the data, "You know I would be able to interpret your data more if there weren't two KIDS ARGUING!" Knuckles shouted, looking back at the two hedgehogs. They stopped arguing and smiled sheepishly at Knuckles.

"Sorry Knucks." they said in unison. Tails sighed in relief.

"Now would you two come over here at look at this? It's weird." Tails asked of the two. Both hedgehogs walked over to his computer to look at his data.

"Tails this looks like a bunch of lines to me." Sonic said. Soler smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Clearly these lines show shifts in reality that are causing spikes to happen. Right Tails?" Soler said. Tails nodded.

"You're exactly right." Soler looked at Sonic with a look of triumph. Sonic just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh sure Mr. Know-It-All, I'm sure you just knew all of that. Well, what else can you say about the data from just looking at it?" Sonic remarked. Soler looked at the data closely.

"Well, I can say that these shifts aren't temporal, meaning that these are dimensional shifts. Very interesting." He said without looking back at Sonic. Sonic looked at Knuckles for an explanation but he looked just as lost as he was.

"Uh, Tails. Can I get an English translation of that?" Sonic asked. Tails laughed a bit.

"What he means is that the shifts aren't time-based, meaning that there are no shifts in time happening, but shifts in dimensions. But the bigger question is why this is happening and to what dimensions?" He replied. Tails looked puzzled at the data as he was tried wrapping his head around it. Soler had the same puzzled look on his face as well.

"Tails, do you think this might have anything to do with the Chaos Emeralds?" Soler asked him. Tails thought about it for a second.

"Maybe. I mean there's still so little we actually know about the Emeralds that they could be doing this. Can you and Sonic summon the Emeralds for me?" He asked. Soler blinked once and looked at Sonic who had the same blank look.

"Tails, we don't have all the Emeralds." Sonic said, when a light bulb turned on in his head, "Oh wait, yes we do." he said. Soler looked at him for a second still puzzled but then remembered that they do have all the Emeralds with them because just recently, Sonic and himself had defeated Eggman once again and kept all the Emeralds he had collected. Tails and Knuckles both facepalmed themselves because of the two hedgehogs lack of memory. The hedgehogs smiled with modest embarrassment and closed their eyes in concentration. Then, the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared around them and landed on the ground.

"Here they are in all their glory." Soler said. Tails walked over to the Emeralds and picked up one of them. He put it into a slot in his computer to get some readings on it. The Emerald seemed to just be giving off its normal mystical readings.

"Hmm, maybe my machines just can't pick up any different readings. Soler, do you think you could try and use the Emeralds to pick up anything different about them?" He asked as he tossed the Emerald back to him. Soler caught it and looked at it.

"Well you know, I'm not super strong in using Chaos Energy. Shouldn't we be asking Shadow this? I mean, he's the one who has been training me in using this energy." Soler responded almost pleadingly.

"Well we would ask Shadow but he's not here and is probably on some mission for G.U.N. So who knows where in the world he is?" Sonic said, "So you're all we got." Soler looked at the emeralds.

"Okay I'll try." He walked over to the circle of Emeralds and sat in the middle of them. He closed his eyes and concentrated on their power and energy. At first, he didn't feel anything, but as his concentration deepened, he started to feel their power. This was the one thing about the Emeralds Soler liked, though he feared the sense of endless power they give off, even when he's holding one of them he gets just a small fraction of that feeling, that power.

"So do you feel anything different about them?" Tails asked him.

"No, not yet." Soler replied as he kept his concentration on them. Then, out of nowhere, he felt a surge of energy that wasn't the Emeralds' doing. "Hey Tails, I felt a weird surge, do you think it was one of the shifts?" Soler worried, opening his eyes.

"It could be, see if you can pinpoint where that surge is coming from." Tails replied. Soler nodded and closed his eyes again to better concentrate on the surge. At first, it was hard just getting small ripples from it but the more he concentrated on it, the bigger the ripples got and eventually, it began to feel like it was opening up to something he'd never felt before.

"Hey uhh, Soler, think you could turn off the Emeralds." Sonic said.

"What do you mean 'turn them off?' I can't turn them off." Soler replied.

"Well, do you think you could do something? 'Cause things are getting bright." Sonic said back. Soler opened his eyes and could see that all of the Emeralds were brightly glowing more and more with each second.

"Soler, what are you doing?" Knuckles yelled as he and the others backed away from him.

"I'm not doing any of this! I can't control this!" Soler screamed. The Emeralds' light was blinding and all they could do was close their eyes and hope that it would stop.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

It felt like the wind was flowing passed me as if I was running but I know I had to be sitting. I opened my eyes and saw that I was falling at extreme speeds to the ground.

"Oh shi-!" Was all I could get out as I face planted into the ground.

 _Huh, so this must be what Sonic felt like when he always faceplants into the ground_ _._ I thought to myself. I pulled myself from the ground and looked around at my surroundings, It looked like I landed behind some cottage in a vegetable garden. I got out of the garden as fast as I could so that I wouldn't mess up this person's crops any more than I already had. There seemed to be some sort of forest back behind this place too but it looked wrong and twisted in a way.

 _I don't like the vibes I'm getting from that place._ I decided to jump up on top of the cottage to get a better look at my surroundings. My first impression was that I'm definitely not in Mobius anymore. My second impression was that this place is super bright and colorful. Thirdly, it looked like that the small town at the bottom of this hill had a massive castle near the other end of it. And lastly, it looks like that there are technicolored ponies in town.

 _This place_ _is_ _gonna_ _to be an adventure for sure._ I then remembered the Emeralds and tried to sense if one was around. Luckily one was, it seemed to be in front of the cottage. I easily found it since it was glowing a bit. I need to see if I could find any of the guys, but how?

 _Wait, Tails gave us communicators that track each other._ I quickly got mine's out (Don't ask where) and turned on the radar. It was a little scrambled from the fall but it still worked. And it looked like the nearest person to me was coming from the forest, and they weren't that far away. I ran back to behind the house and into the forest to find a friend in this new world.

 _That's Chapter 3 people. This story has made me so hype to keep going, especially since there are others who like it too. I should be getting the next chapter up soon too, and to the person who talked about who I should ship, I love your ideas and some of those ships will be happening but which ones, who knows. Welp, that's all so this is Solerwolf OUT!_


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm not even going to say anything._

 _ **Chapter 4: So You**_ _ **'**_ _ **re a Pegasus huh?**_

 **(P.O.V. Twilight & RD)**

The white streak went into the overfed forest behind Fluttershy's house and it was moving fast.

"Okay, Twi I know you saw whatever that was right?" Rainbow said. Twilight nodded her head.

"Yeah, whatever that was, it's fast. Really fast." Twilight finished, Rainbow looked offended.

"It's not that fast. I could catch up to it in a heartbeat." She said.

"Well, you might have to RD, we don't know what that thing is or where it came from. For all we know, it could be dangerous and it's entered the forest and I don't like it." Twi said rapidly. She looked at Rainbow, "Rainbow, I need you to catch up and follow that thing while I get the other girls. See if you can lead it back out in the opening or to the old castle of the princesses. We'll meet you there as soon as we can." Twi spoke with a serious tone. Rainbow smirked back at her, accepting the new challenge.

"You got it Twilight, but you know, I might just take it down while I'm at it, you know, if you guys don't catch up." Rainbow said, cooly. Twilight just shook her head.

"Well if you do, that's even better. Now go before it gets too far away." And with that, the two set out to complete their tasks; Twilight to get the others, and RD to chase the mystery creature.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

"Okay, now this forest is just confusing," I said as I was traversing this forest. It wasn't your average forest it felt like there was something mystical about it that just unnerved me. I was following the tracker to whoever was giving off the signal but it seemed as if the forest itself didn't want me to succeed. I was running at a moderate speed jumping over stumps and ducking under branches but it seemed like it just got denser the more I continued. I stopped to see if I was getting any closer to the signal and I was to my surprise.

 _Looks like they're just a wee bit ahead of me._ I climbed a tree to see if I could get a better look at the area. Once I got to the top I saw a castle in the distance.

"Surprise, surprise. Man that place looks awesome. I would love to explore that place," I said to myself. I looked at my tracker and to my luck, the signal was coming from in the direction of the castle. I smirked.

"My lucky day." I hopped back down the tree and once I did it felt like there was something else coming towards me. I stopped to see if I could use a Chaos Energy trick to pinpoint them. I closed my eyes and felt to see where it was coming from and it was coming from the same direction I came from, and it was coming fast. I knew that it couldn't be Sonic because then I would be picking up his signal. Then who was it? I thought of running, but realised that I wouldn't be able to go full speed to outrun it. So I got into a battle stance and waited for it. My wait wasn't long before I heard rustling in some bushes and what popped out surprised me more than I thought it would.

 **(P.O.V. none)**

Rainbow had caught up to the creature and was planning on doing a surprise attack on it but when she popped out of the bush she was surprised to see that it was waiting on her. It was staring at her with curiosity and amazement.

"So you're a rainbow mane-coloured pegasus… Cool," it said.

"And you are some weird rat?" That ticked him off quite a bit.

"HEY! I'm not a rat I'm a HEDGEHOG!" he shouted.

"Yeah yeah, hedgehog, rat whatever you are doesn't matter, because you're going down." the pegasus said.

"What, can't get a date first? I don't normally fight talking rainbow mane-coloured pegasi without a good meal first." He joked.

"Yeah you're joking now, but once I take you down, you won't be joking," she said as she charged him. The hedgehog easily dodged the attack and got behind her.

"Look I'm sure you are a decent fighter but I don't want to hurt you. I think it'll hurt my credibility if I did." He said to her but she didn't listen to him and charged at him again but much faster this time. He was caught by surprise a little at her speed but still dodged it easily enough by jumping over her as she passed. This seemed to only make Rainbow madder.

"Ok. Look, I don't know where you came from but you not taking this fight seriously. This is seriously not cool." she said.

"Well, I might take it more seriously if I at least knew your name." He retorted.

"Why should I tell you my name? You're going to be in the dirt soon enough."

"Well you said something along those lines earlier and I'm still up aren't I? Come on, at let me get your name. Look, my name is Soler… Soler the Hedgehog." the white hedgehog, Soler, said to her. Rainbow thought for a moment and decided to give him her name at least.

"My name is Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria." RD responded.

"Rainbow Dash huh? Nice name, fits the whole rainbow mane thing you got going on. And see, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Soler said.

"No. It wasn't, but don't think this will change the fact that I'm gonna take you down." Rd said as she readied herself for another attack. Soler looked unamused.

 _I really don't wanna hurt her, but she won't just quit_ , he thought. He noticed that there seemed to big two big wooden wolf-like animals stalking up behind her and she didn't notice.

"Uhh, Rainbow–"

"Quiet! No more talking, you're not getting out of this beatdown." She said, interrupting Soler. Just as she was going to attack, the two wolves pounced on her. Rainbow turned to see the attack coming and closed her eyes, ready for the pain. But it never came. In fact, it sounded like the wolves were to ones in pain and it felt like something was holding her. She opened her eyes to see that Soler had protected her by picking her up and taking out the wolves.

"No one is hurting her on my watch." He said solemnly to the two wolves. This seemed to frighten them and they scurried off. His body untensed itself as he looked down at Rainbow. She looked deep into his emerald eyes, and he into her magenta eyes. She didn't notice but she blushed a bit from looking at him.

"Are you okay RD?" he asked. She just nodded her head. He smiled.

"Glad to hear it because as much as I like holding you, I gotta go. Later!" And he popped out of existence, leaving Rainbow floating in the air for a few seconds before she hit the ground.

"I'm gonna get that hedgehog back for that." She said as she finally realized that she was blushing.

 _That's chapter 4. This was my first bit of dabbling into the romance side of storytelling but I think I did ok. I'm going to try to at least upload two chapters a day maybe more if I'm really into it, or less because of other things. I like how this story is going so far._ _D_ _o you guys like it? Welp, anyway that's all the next chapter will be up sooner or later and until then this is Solerwolf OUT!_


	5. Chapter 5

_It's that time again friends_

 _ **Chapter 5: New Friends, New Mission**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

After my encounter with the locals, I'm back on my quest to find the missing friends. I teleported out in front of the castle I saw awhile back, but there's a gorge in between the castle and where I was. I looked down the gorge and instantly regretted it. Now I'm not afraid of heights, but looking down a gorge that's covered by mist with a malicious vibe doesn't make me want to go down it anytime soon.

"Man, what's with this place and having bad vibes," I said to myself. I looked across the gap and tried to calculate if I could jump across. "Well it is a big gap, but if I can get enough momentum behind me I'm sure I can make the jump," I said somewhat confidently. I backed up as far as could and got in a running starting position.

"Three...Two...One...GO!" and I boosted to the edge as fast as I could. Right before I reached the end I jumped with all my might. It felt like time was slowing down around me as I soared through the air to the other side. The cliff looked like it was only getting closer and closer, but then, it started getting higher and higher. I realized then that I did not calculate my jump correctly as I plummeted down the gorge.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" I screamed as I fell, starting to panic while I tried to think of how to get out of this. I facepalmed myself for being so stupid. "I'm so dumb. Chaos Control!" I said as I teleported myself in front of the castle. "I should probably lead with that next time," I said to myself.

I looked onward at the old castle that stood before me, it looked like that this place was once beautiful in its hay day, so it makes me wonder why this place got left to crumble in this forest. Pushing my curiosity aside, I entered the castle in search of whichever one of my friends was in here. I looked at my tracker to see that they only seemed to be a few feet in front of me. I looked up but saw no one around.

"Hello! Is anyone around?" I said and got no response. I checked the tracker again and it was still the read that someone was around. "Sonic? Tails? Knuckles?" Still no response. I looked around the room and as I did, I got a better look at it and noticed that I was standing in a throne room. I could see two thrones sitting at the end of the room away from the doors.

 _So there were two rulers of this land, interesting but I wonder what happened to them?_ I thought to myself. As I investigated further, I noticed that one throne was partially destroyed, more by battle than by decay. That's when I observed my surroundings and realized that the parts I thought were decayed were actually destroyed. Holes could be seen in the ceiling, certain parts of the tapestries looked like they were burned away, just… weird.

I looked up at the two largest tapestries and saw that it had two polar opposite beings on them. One was white, bright, and held the sun in one of its hooves. There seemed to be a depiction of ponies bowing to it. The moon rested over the other one, with a depiction of ponies sleeping under it. Unlike the first one though, its fur was about as dark as midnight. The two beings seemed to be pegasi with horns. The part that sent a shiver down my spine was that the tapestry with the moon was partly burned up from the bottom.

"Okay, so there was some sort of falling out between the rulers here." I said. I shook off the feeling and remembered why I was there to get whoever was here, I looked down at my tracker and noticed that whoever I'm tracking was in a different place than this room. I followed the dot down a few of the corridors which was pretty confusing to the least. The signal lead me to a door and whoever it was was right behind it. I opened the door to it leading to a bedroom of some sort that looked like it was still in pretty good shape. I looked around for whoever was in there and noticed that the bedsheets were moving. I slowly crept my way up to them take a silent step… after step… after step, until I was right behind it. I slowly reached for the sheets and just as I was going to touch it…

"AHHHH!"

"AHHHH!" I jumped back so fast I hit the ground. I looked to see a certain blue hedgehog looking back at me just as frightened.

"It was YOU!" We said in unison.

"Hey! Stop copying me!" We said again together. We both looked at each other for a moment and then started to laugh. We got up fist bumped.

"Man Sonic, am I glad to see you."

"Yeah same here Soler, I thought I was the only one who got sent to this world." Sonic said back.

"Yeah man same here, but now we have each other." I said back.

"So do you have any idea what world we're in?" Sonic asked me.

"Well, from what I know this place is called Equestria and the dominate species, check this, are technicolored talking ponies." I responded back. He didn't look amused.

"Sure it is." He said sarcastically.

"I promise it is. I've already run into one of the locals and she sure looked like a rainbow maned pegasus. But whatever, we can discuss this later. First, let's get out of this castle." I said and he reluctantly agreed. As we walked out from the room we could hear voices.

"This way girls, that sounded like his voice coming from over there!" I deadpanned as I recognized that voice immediately.

"She really doesn't give up huh?"

 **(P.O.V. Rainbow)**

"I can't believe that hedgehog would do that to me." I huffed as I flew towards the castle. "I mean one, he calls me weak, two, he didn't take our fight seriously, and three, he saves me and just dropped me. Ooh! When I get my hooves on that hedgehog, he's toast!" I said to myself as I finally made it to the castle.

"That stupid hedgehog saving me to seem cool, I could've handled those timberwolves myself." I said but then remembered his eyes as they were staring right into mine.

 _He looked truly happy that I was safe and that I didn't get hurt._ I could feel my cheeks blushing again thinking about it. "What am I doing blushing over some arrogant, cocky hedgehog who's eyes were mesmerizing." I said. I shook my head, "No can't be thinking of him that way." I was going to fly over to the castle but then I heard some rustling behind me.

"Rainbow, we finally caught up to you." Twilight said as she and the rest of the girls came into view.

"Yeah, took you guys long enough." I said. "Um, Rainbow darling, are you blushing?" Rarity asked. I noticed that I slightly was and turned away from them. "What, no I'm not! Why would I be blushing?" I said back to her with my back to them.

"Um, Rainbow, it clearly looked like you were blushing." Fluttershy said quietly. "No, I clearly wasn't. Anyway, we should be getting back on topic of stopping that menace of a hedgehog." I retorted.

"Hedgehog?" Applejack questioned, "You mean those little critters that spike up when they're scared hedgehogs?" she asked.

"Yes, those types of hedgehogs but much bigger." This seemed to peak Twilight's interest.

"Where did it go? How did you see it? Did you meet it? What was it like?" Twilight asked rapid fire questions at me.

"Listen Twi, I'll gladly answer those questions when we catch it. He went into the castle." I responded, annoyed. Twilight scratched her head clumsily.

"You're right Rainbow, let's stop this hedgehog first." Twilight teleported us in front of the castle. We made our way into the main room of the place.

"Okay, so how are we going to find him now?" I said to the others. "Oh! Oh! I know! I know!" Pinkie said excitedly. We looked at her.

"What's your plan Pink?" I asked.

"Ok! So he's obviously a talking hedgehog right? Soo that means he has to like the smell of apple pie. So we lure him out with that." She said. We all just stared at her.

"Um Pinkie darling, why exactly, would that lure him out?" Rarity asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Well, hedgehogs like the taste of apples so if we have an apple pie, he'll come to the smell of the pie and we catch him. Easy peasy lemon squeezy." Before any of us could say anything back we heard a set of screams coming from down one of the corridors. I instantly recognized that scream.

"It's him, girls, I'd recognize that voice anywhere. This way!" I shouted and flew in front into the corridors. As we were dashing through the corridors to locate him I just kept thinking.

 _He's so dead when I get him._ But as we got closer, we couldn't tell where the voices came from.

"Well darn it seems like done lost'em." AJ said slightly out of breath. I was going to agree but then we heard voices and one of them was his.

"Oh no we haven't. This way girls. that sounded like his voice coming from over there!" I shouted as we took off again.

 **(P.O.V. none)**

The two hedgehogs could hear what sounded like a lot of hooves clopping their way towards them.

"Okay, so we gotta get moving." Soler said. Sonic nodded in agreement and they ran down the corridor looking for a way but to no avail. They stopped at a crossway going left and right.

"Okay, so I think we should go left." Soler said.

"Well, I think we should go right." Sonic said.

"No, we go left, left is always the best way."

"No, right is always right. It's in the name." Sonic retorted.

"No, we go left."

"No right."

"No left!"

"No right!" The two shouted back and forth, failing to notice that their pursuers had caught up to them.

"There are two of you?" They heard a voice say. The two stopped their arguing and looked to see a group of ponies looking directly at them.

"So you weren't lying about the whole pony thing." Sonic said. Soler rolled his eyes.

"Told you I'd find you again, hedgehog." Rainbow shouted at Soler,

"Listen, I'm quite flattered that you would go to all this trouble to see me again, but don't you think it's a bit too early for a second date." Soler said. This riled her up, but it also got her blushing quite a bit.

"We'll see who's making jokes once we catch you. Get'em girls!" Rainbow said. Soler and Sonic looked at each other and both nodded.

"Scatter!" And the two hedgehogs ran opposite ways. Soler to the right and Sonic to the left.

"Split up girls!" Twilight shouted as the group split to chase the hedgehogs.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

I ran through this place trying to find the main throne room since it seemed to be the only way out.

"You're not getting away!" I heard. I turned to see Rainbow followed by a pink pony, and a tan pony with a cowboy hat chasing me.

"Listen girls, we could avoid all of this by just sitting down and talking things out like normal people okay?" I said.

"You're not going to be talking your way out of this one hedgehog!" RD said, "AJ, see if you can get your rope around him to slow him down."

"Will do partner!" I heard one of the ponies say. I looked behind me to see the tan one pull out a rope and start to twirl it around and around like as if she was going to be catching a wild animal. I was kinda wondering how this was all going to play out.

"Listen partner, I wouldn't do that if I were you." I warned smoothly. She ignored me and threw the rope anyway. Surprisingly, she actually caught me. "Ha! Caught the varmint." I heard her say in-between her teeth. She stopped my motion almost completely.

"Huh, can't believe you actually caught me. I must be slipping." I said to myself.

"Good work, AJ! Now reel him in." Rainbow said. The tan pony who I'm guessing is AJ started to pull me in towards them and she was surprisingly strong. I was struggling to not get pulled all the way to them but with her strength, it wasn't doing me any good. Then a light bulb popped on in my mind and I thought of any idea that's so crazy it just might work.

"Chaos Control!" I popped out of the ropes. AJ lost her balance and fell over.

"Man, I keep forgetting I can do that." I said, "Welp, good try girls but better luck next time." With that, I sped off. I could hear Rainbow shouting behind me. I turned on my communicator.

"Sonic, try to meet me back in the throne room. It seems to be our only way out." I shouted into it.

"Okay I'll meet you there." I heard him say back.

 **(P.O.V. Sonic)**

 _Man these ponies won't give up._ I thought to myself as I was trying to make my way to the throne room like Soler planned but these ponies were making it hard. I had to keep dodging blasts being sent from behind me. I ducked as another one was sent whizzing past me.

"Hey! Watch where you're blasting that thing." I shouted back.

"Well, if you would stop we wouldn't have to keep blasting you with our spells." The lavender pony said. There was also a yellow pegasus and white unicorn with her.

"Listen you cretin, all this running is going to make my makeup runny, which I do not like, so do you think you can just give up now and stop all this running?" The white unicorn said.

"Good luck with that princess, like I'm going to let you guys just catch me." I said back as I kept running. The blasts didn't seem to stop coming as I was dodging like crazy. I had to think of something to do to get them off my back long enough to meet up with Soler. Just then I thought of something that might work. I started to build up wind in my hands as I ran. The longer I built up the wind the stronger the wind around us became. I could tell that they had noticed because the rate of blasts had slowed down a lot.

"What's he doing!" I heard the lavender one shout.

"I don't know." I barely heard a quiet voice say it must've been the pegasus. Once I had built up enough wind I came to a stop and turned around and faced them.

"Sorry ladies, but I need to get out of here. _SONIC WIND!"_ I shouted as I blasted them with the built up wind. It sent them flying back a distance away. It was enough of a distance that I could get away.

"Later and sorry again." I said as I ran off. I heard one last thing before I went out of earshot.

"MY HAIR!"

 **(P.O.V. none)**

Sonic and Soler met back up in the throne room and were slightly out of breath.

"So I see you got away from your group too." Soler said, "How did you lose them?"

"I sent them back with a Sonic Wind attack, and you?"

"I used Chaos Control when one tried to rope me. Soler replied. Sonic nodded his head.

"So shall we leave." He said as he motioned towards the doors.

"We shall my good man." Soler replied. Just as they were about to take a step forward they hit a wall.

"A wall?" Soler said as he felt in front of him.

"Where did a wall come from?" Sonic asked as he tried to push it.

"It's not a wall but my barrier." The two heard a voice.

"Oh no." Soler said as they both turned around to see that they were trapped in some sort of cage. All of the ponies from before were gathered back together. The only difference was that the lavender, yellow, and white ponies' manes were a mess. The white one was giving Sonic the devil's stare.

"How much wind was in that attack?" Soler whispered to him.

"Maybe I added in a little bit too much." He responded.

"Looks like we caught you just like we said we would. What do have to say now hedgehog?" Rainbow said triumphantly to Soler. He looked at her and said as slyly as ever, "Geez RD, if you wanted a second date that bad you could've just asked me." He finished with a smirk and a wink. Her face turned a bright red. He got a laugh out of that.

"But yes, it does seem that you have caught us. We accept defeat this time."

 _End of chapter 5. Man this is by far the longest one yet. I've been reading some of the reviews from you guys and I thank you so much for them. I do agree with one of you that yes my first bit if the story is going fast and tbh I planned on them to go kinda fast just so that way I can get the main opposition set up so I can take my time with details. Abd yes I've trying to think of a way to get Shadow in the story so if you have any ideas your more than welcome to private message me it. Anyways that's all for now so Solerwolf OUT!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Yep back at it again with a new...no not finish that just please read._

 _ **Chapter 6: Free**_

 **(P.O.V. None)**

The mane six, plus the Hedgehogs, were traveling through the forest towards Ponyville. Sonic and Soler were stuck in Twilight's bubble as they were being taken back to Ponyville. Even though they had been captured, they seemed to be extremely relaxed. Soler was practically napping in the bubble, and Sonic was just as relaxed as his friend. Seeing this irritated Rainbow, she had caught not just one, but both of them. So why were they so relaxed? She flew up to the bubble near where Soler was relaxing.

"Hey! We caught you and you're completely relaxed." She started. He opened one eyelid and glanced at her.

"And?" He said. Rainbow just about went mad.

"And you're supposed to be oh, I don't know, scared, worried, panicking, begging to be let out, you know, like what most criminals do." She said back at him. He yawns and looked at her.

"Well, we're completely relaxed because one, we're not criminals, and two, I know you're not going to hurt us." Soler calmly responded. She looked at him puzzled.

"What makes you think that we won't hurt you two?" She asked back.

"Well, I could tell when I looked into your eyes," he said back looking right at her. She was taken aback by his remark and slightly blushed from the stare he was giving her.

"He trusted me from just looking in my eyes? Who is this guy?" She quietly posed to herself. She flew into the back of the pack by Fluttershy with no more to say. Fluttershy looked at RD with concern in her eyes.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" She queried, popping Rainbow out of her thoughts. RD looked at the yellow pegasus.

"Yeah Shy, I'm okay. Just thinking is all." She responded. Fluttershy seemed satisfied with the answer and left Rainbow to her thoughts. The group traveled a little while longer in silence. Rarity kept trying to fix her hair back, but no matter how much she tried, it wouldn't straighten out right. She trotted up furiously to the side of the bubble with Sonic in it.

"Listen here you brute, it will take me forever to get my hair back to how it was before. Were you raised with no manners?" She shouted at him. Sonic scratched the back of his head, a cheesy grin on his face.

"Yeah, like I said before I'm super sorry for that, I didn't mean to add in that much wind." He replied. She just huffed at him and trotted back into the pack. As they traveled again in silence, a thought came into Sonic's mind. He turned back to the group of ponies.

"Hey. Since it seems like we're all becoming such good friends, do you think we could get your names?" He started with himself.

"My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and the other one is Soler." Sonic said. Soler raised his hand when heard his name without turning to look at them. Twilight thought about his request for a moment.

"Well, okay. I see no harm in it. My name is Twilight Sparkle, the Rainbow maned one is named is Rainbow Dash, the pink pony is Pinkie Pie, the pony with the hat is Applejack, the white unicorn is Rarity and the other pegasus is Fluttershy." She stated. Soler sat up and turned around to look at them when she finished. He stared at Twilight rather intensely. She could feel him staring at her and slightly blushed from being stared at, "Could you stop staring at me? It's a bit embarrassing being stared at." She said.

"Are you some sort of royalty?" He asked her instead of looking away. His question took her by surprise.

"Why, yes I am. I'm the princess of friendship. How did you know I was royalty?" She asked him.

"Well I just guessed you were since you have a set of wings and a horn. Plus while I was in that castle I saw that the tapestries has two beings that looked like you, just you know, different." He responded.

"Oh you must mean the two princesses, Celestia and her sister, Luna. That was once their old castle." Twilight said. When Soler heard the name Luna his eyes grew wide for a second, but he shook it off just as fast.

"Okay. Thanks princess." He said back, a little shaken. The group of ponies took notice of how he reacted once Twilight said Luna's name.

"Uh partner, is there something you have to say about our princess Luna?" Applejack asked. He didn't look back the ponies but respond.

"No, just thinking of a different Luna. It has nothing to do with yours." The girls just shook it off, all except for Twilight, who let it go but wondered what other Luna he was talking about. Sonic looked at Soler sympathetically.

"You okay dude?" He asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah I'm good man, just you know, memories." Soler said back faintly smiling, a slight glisten in his eyes. The group continued in silence until they made it out of the forest on their way towards Ponyville. As they reached the town and were crossing through the busy streets all the ponies' eyes were on the two hedgehogs. Soler and Sonic could feel the stares on them and kinda scrunched up together in the center of the bubble. Rainbow saw this and smirked as she flew right up to the bubble.

"What? Don't tell me you afraid of a few stares." She said boldly.

"As if! Just you know, being slightly cautious." Sonic said. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Well you won't have to worry about the staring ponies for long. We're right at the castle where we can start the interrogation." Rainbow said excitedly. Soler rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'm so scared. Like I said before, I know you're not going to hurt us." He retorted. Rainbow and Soler just looked at each other, with Rainbow doing her best to give Soler her best death glare but he just looked calmly back into her eyes. They had their staring contest until Twilight snapped them out of it.

"Look, we're finally at the castle." She said and they both looked at the towering castle. It looked like it was made completely out of crystal, which seemed impossible to Soler. But he let it go knowing that this world worked differently than his own. When they got near the main doors of the castle they opened up by themselves. This puzzled the Hedgehogs until they looked down to see that a little purple dragon opened it.

"Guys, you're back." The dragon said. He then looked at the two hedgehogs in the bubble, "So I see we got some new guests?"

"We'll explain later, Spike." Twilight said, "Right now, I need you to write a letter to the princesses telling them of the current events immediately. He nodded and ran off to do the task. Sonic looked at Twilight.

"So I'm guessing that he's your servant?"

"No, he's my assistant." Twilight corrected him. He nodded understandingly as they continued in the castle. The inside of the castle looked way bigger and more spacious than the outside. The castle was completely crystal and so was there door as well. There were little decorations on the walls but there were red carpets that lined the middle of the corridors.

"Whew. Nice place you got here princess." Soler said.

"Thank you." The group then went into a big room with a large map centered on a table surrounded by six thrones. The bubble hovered over the center of the table as each of the ponies sat on their thrones. Twilight spoke first.

"Ok, now I don't need to ask your names, but you two clearly aren't from this world so can you explain where you come from and why you're here?" She asked. Sonic spoke up.

"Well, we come from a place called Mobius. And why we're here is as best your guess as it is mine." He said. This answer didn't seem to sit right with the ponies.

"Well, how did you two get here?" Twilight asked next. Soler spoke up this time.

"Well you see, that's kind of a long story so to make it short; we used these mystical gems to accidentally teleport us here." He said. That didn't help the ponies much more than the first answer.

"Could you explain in detail what happened?" Twilight asked. The two hedgehogs looked at each other then back at her.

"Do we have to?" They whined. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes you do." So they told them the whole story of how they got here and all the events that lead up to it. Soler even told them about how he felt something weird when feeling the Chaos Emeralds' energy. That brought up something else.

"Hey, what are those emeralds you guys keep talking about?" Pinkie asked. Soler thought on how to answer, "Well, to make it simple, Chaos Emeralds are emeralds filled with a massive source of power called Chaos Energy that only a few can harness and control." He explained.

"Well, do you have any with you?" Rainbow chimed in.

"Well, we had all seven before we teleported. But now we have none." Sonic said.

"Actually I have one with me." Soler said and pulled out the deep blue Emerald. When the girls saw the Emerald they were amazed by its beauty, especially Rarity.

"That's one of the biggest gems I've ever seen." She squealed. Soler rolled his eyes and noticed that Sonic was giving him an annoyed glare.

"What?"

"When were you going to tell me that you had an Emerald on you?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I was going to tell you once we got away, but since we didn't get away I didn't get the chance to tell you." Soler responded. Sonic just shook his head. Snapping out of her gaze on the Emerald, Twilight spoke up.

"Okay, so like you said that there are seven of these and they each hold a massive amount of uncontrollable power, right?" Sonic nodded.

"Yes, and we need to find all seven if we want to have a chance of getting back home. We also need to find our friends. They're probably in this world too." He added.

"Are your friends more hedgehogs?" Applejack asked.

"No one's a red echidna and the other is a two-tailed fox." Soler said. AJ looked puzzled.

"Did you say two tails?" She asked, to which Soler nodded. She let it go despite how weird that sounded.

"Okay, so now that we've told you everything, can we be let go?" Sonic asked. Twilight thought on it for a second.

"Well, you did tell us everything, and you both seems to be innocent, plus we need to get those Emeralds before they get into the wrong hooves… So yes, you two are free." She nodded, and let them go on the side of the map.

"Thanks Twi." Soler said, Rainbow flew up in his face with a mad look.

"What's up doc? Something on your mind?" Soler asked.

"Don't think that just because you got let go makes us friends or anything! I'm still going to have my eye on you." Rainbow finished.

"Well, I hope you do." Soler responded and winked at her. She blushed hard and flew away from him. He laughed a bit at how frustrated she was. Sonic walked up to him.

"Hey man, why do you do that to her? You know it gets her flustered." He whispered.

"Yeah, that's the exactly why I do it. Plus it's just harmless flirting. You do it all the time." Sonic was about to rebut that but found himself nodding in agreement. Twilight walked up to the two.

"Well it seems that you two will be staying here for a while so you're both more than welcome to stay in the castle. I have more than enough rooms." She said.

"Wow, thanks Twilight." Sonic said.

"It's no trouble at all. I mean the only ones who stay here are myself, Spike, and my student Starlight Glimmer, so there's more than enough room." Before he could respond, his communicator started going off.

"What's that?" Fluttershy asked them as the others gathered around the two.

"It's our communicators. Our friend Tails made them for us for when we're in the field or separated from each other and need to talk." Sonic said. He answered his, "Hello Tails, Knuckles, come in." Sonic said. It was static at first but they could hear someone trying to come back, "Tails, Knuckles, you're breaking up." Sonic added. Soler looked at the communicator.

"Sonic, let me see it for a second." Sonic gave him the communicator and he started to fiddle with the knobs on the side trying to get a better signal. "Tails, Knuckles, do you read?" he asked. It was still static at first but as he kept fiddling with it, they began to hear a voice respond back.

"Hel… lo… Son… ic… Sol… er… come… in…" Soler kept tinkering with it.

"Tails, Knuckles, we're here. Respond."

"Soler… Soler, it's Tails. I'm glad to hear your voice." They heard. Sonic and Soler smiled, glad to know that he was all right.

"Tails man, its great to hear your voice, where are you? Is Knuckles with you?" Sonic asked him.

"Yes, he's with me and it looks like we're in some sort of dusty town in the desert and it's filled with ponies." He said, "Guys, where are we?" Soler and Sonic looked at each other.

"We'll explain later buddy, right now you sit tight and we'll be right over there to get you. Soler, out." Soler finished and closed the communicator.

"Well, at least we know that they're here and okay." Soler said, "But I wonder where they are?" Applejack spoke up.

"Well it sounds like they're in… " She was cut off by Spike's abrupt arrival.

"Twilight! We you got a letter from the princess. She says that two strange creatures were sighted in Appleloosa. The sighting said that one was red and the other had two tails." Spike reported, out of breath. Sonic smirked.

"Well, it looks like we're heading to Appleloosa!" He shouted and ran out the door. The ponies were about to say something but Soler stopped them.

"Give it a second." Sonic came walking back into the room.

"Does, uh, anyone know where Appleloosa is exactly?" He asked, scratching the back of his head. Soler sighed and shook his head while the girls just looked dumbfounded that this hedgehog was that dense.

 _That's chapter 6. Whelp, we're almost to that point where the whole plot will be set up. I wonder what's going to happen to the gang next and who is this other Luna that Soler is thinking about. Well, stick around and you'll find out! As you can tell, I didn't know what to say at this ending. Soo anyway, this was Solerwolf OUT!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Yay! Another chapter!_

 _ **Chapter 7: Reunited**_

 **(P.O.V. none)**

Sonic was tapping his foot impatiently as the group rode the train to Appleloosa. He looked to Soler, who was stretched out on the seat in front of him with his eyes closed.

"Why couldn't we just run there? We would've already been there and back by now." He complained to him.

"Well, do you know the terrain of this place?" Soler asked without looking at him.

"Well no, of course not. We only just got here."

"Well then, that's why. We don't know this place, so we could just as easily get lost running around from place to place." Soler stated. Sonic just huffed knowing he was right.

"Fine." He said.

"Good, now just enjoy the ride and let me try and nap for a bit." Soler responded, turning over on his side. Sonic just sighed and went back to tapping his foot. Rainbow saw this and decided to go over and talk to him. She flew over to him.

"Mind if I sit?" She asked. Sonic looked up and scooted over for her to sit.

"So I'm guessing that you don't like to sit still for too long, huh?" She asked him while taking her seat. He nodded back.

"Yeah. Sitting still for too long gets me antsy and needing some action." Sonic said back.

"I know exactly how you feel, my friends tend to always want to take things slow when we could get them done quicker if we sped up the pace." She responded.

"Yeah, I know right? I mean, yeah, sometimes slowing down is necessary but not all the time. I mean, I'm glad I've got Soler, he tends to be the only one who can keep up with me, but even he tends to want to take some situations slow." Sonic said back.

"Yeah, like what's so fun about going slow? If you ask me, going fast and action is the best ticket." RD said.

"I'm so with you there. To be honest, I'm addicted to action and just going fast." Sonic said.

"Same here. Weird, we have almost.."

"Identical personalities." Sonic finished her sentence, then the two looked at each other for a moment. Then they burst into small laughter.

"You know, you're not have bad, hedgehog." RD said.

"Right back at you, pony." He responded. Rainbow held out her hoof.

"Lets properly get introduced. Hi, I'm Rainbow Dash." She started, Sonic took her hoof and shook it.

"And I'm Sonic the Hedgehog." The two continued their conversations well into the night.

Soler woke up from his sleep and stretched. He looked around to see that the other ponies were asleep and to his surprise Sonic and Rainbow sleeping right next to each other with Rainbow leaning on Sonic.

 _Aww isn't that cute._ He mocked in thought. Soler looked out the window to see a bright full moon. He got up and walked out the compartment to the back of the train. What he didn't know was that Twilight had awoken up when he walked by.

 _I wonder where he's going._ She thought and got up as silently as she could and followed him. He made his way to the back of the train, so that he could get a full view of the moon.

The feel of the wind blowing through his quills was so soothing to him. He looked up to the moon.

"Hey Luna. How are ya doing?" He spoke to the moon. Twilight crept up just to the open door and could hear him talking to someone.

"As you can see, I'm on another adventure in a strange new place." Still no response from anyone, but he continued, "Yeah, the guys here seem pretty nice and they're super friendly. I'm sure you would love it here. Yeah, it's really peaceful here too, great place to take some naps and relax in." He continued. Twilight was becoming more curious the longer she listened.

 _Who is he talking to? There's no one out there._ She thought to herself. She heard him speak again and listened in.

"Yeah, and check this, there's someone here with your name, funny right?" He smirked and his expression instantly became saddened. "I miss you, Luna and I know that I say it every time we talk, but I really do miss you." He looked up to the moon while he spoke. Twilight felt a little heartbroken hearing how hurt and lonely he sounded, completely different from how he acts around others.

"Well Luna, I'll talk to you later." Soler said. Twilight could tell that he was about to head back and she quickly made her way back up the cart that held the others. She made it back in the nick of time as he entered only a few moments after she did. He looked around to see if the others were still asleep and he made his way back to his seat and looked back out at the moon. Twilight tried to get back to sleep but she couldn't because what just happened kept replaying in her head over and over again.

 _He sounded so hurt and in pain. What happened to that poor soul that would hurt him so much?_ She thought to herself as her heart ached a bit for him, still thinking on it. As she turned over and got one look at him, Twilight saw his face matching just how he sounded. A tear fall from her eye as she turned away to get back to sleep.

Everyone began to stir awake as morning came. Twilight got up, yawned, and wiped some sleep from her eyes. She looked over at Soler and saw that he was still looking out the window in the same position he was in last night.

 _Did he not sleep last night?_ She wondered. She remembered what she heard last night and it made her a little sad but she shaped up, trying not to let him know that she heard him.

"Morning Twi." Applejack said to her, which caught her by surprise.

"Oh! Uh, good morning Applejack. Sleep well?" She responded. Applejack stretched.

"Well, I slept as well as I could in those darn seats. Would it kill them to make them a little more comfy?" She complained, only to stop when she looked back at Twilight and saw how distressed she looked, "Uh, Twi, you feelin' alright?" This seemed to pull Twilight out of her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm okay Applejack. I mean, why wouldn't I be okay on the glorious morning, right?" Twi answered with a forced smile. Applejack knew Twilight enough to know when to not ask more when she was acting like that so she left it alone and went back to her seat. Soler was still looking out the window deep in thought but hopped out of his thoughts when he heard the two speedsters stirring. He didn't want to miss their faces once they woke up. Rainbow was shifting in her sleep while lying on Sonic's lap. She started to open her eyes and sat up yawning. She wiped away the sleep in her eyes to see a smirking Soler looking at her. She looked annoyed at him.

"What are you smirking about?" She asked. He giggled a bit.

"Sleep well princess? Did you enjoy your pillow?" He answered, trying not to laugh. She was about to make a sarcastic retort back at him but then looked at what he meant and saw that she was still right next to Sonic. She put two and two together and her face turned red. Soler started to laugh looking at her face, which caused "the pillow" to wake up.

"What's so funny?" Yawned Sonic. Soler slowed down his laughing.

"Did you enjoy your stuffed animal last night?" He said back. Sonic looked confused at that, then saw that Rainbow was sitting right next to him and was madly blushing. He put two and two together and he began to blush. Soler couldn't hold it together anymore and burst out laughing in his seat.

"Hahaha! Oh man, I can't, I can't breathe!" He struggled to say in his laughter. The two speedsters glared at him.

"It's not funny, hedgehog!" They said in unison, which made them look at each other and turn away blushing even harder. Soler was laughing even harder.

"Oh man, it only gets better." He said. Pinkie Pie popped over to them and was next to Soler, wondering what's so funny.

"Hey what's so funny? I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna knowww." She pleaded. Soler stopped laughing and looked at her smiling.

"Sorry Pink, it's more of an inside joke." He said. She pouted a bit, and Soler put an arm around her, "But look, the next time something really funny happens, you'll be first person I tell. Okay?" He said. She brightened up with his his assurance.

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" He looked confused.

"Pinkie promise?" He asked.

"Yes silly, it goes like this; I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She finished and did all the motions. He shrugged and agreed.

"I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Soler copied. She then got close in his face.

"And remember, never, and I mean never, break a Pinkie Promise." She said seriously as she moved slowly away from his face. This left Soler highly confused on what just happened. The rest of the ride was quick as they made it to Appleloosa by midday. Sonic was the first to speed off the train when the time came to exit the train. He started running around the place, clearly happy to be off the train. The rest of the group walked off the train to the sight of Sonic's running around. Soler just sighed and shook his head.

"Come on man, it wasn't that bad." He said. Sonic came to a stop in front of him.

"It was torture." Sonic replied, Soler just rolled his eyes. Twilight walked up to the two.

"Come on, we gotta find those friends of yours." She said to the two.

"Well then, lead the way princess." Soler said bowing to her. She smirked and rolled her eyes as she lead on. Appleloosa reminded the two hedgehogs of a town you would see out of an old western movie. The town had one main road with branching roads going from it. They could see that not only were ponies living there but buffalo as well. Everyone seems to be happy too.

"Nice little town." Sonic said, "But why is place called Appleloosa?"

"Well, that's because of the apple orchard located here, partner." They heard a voice say. They turned to see a golden yellow stallion wearing a vest and cowboy hat walk up to them.

"Cousin Braeburn!" Applejack said excitedly as she ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Well howdy there, cousin, wasn't expecting you and your friends to be stopping by." He said and looked at Sonic and Soler, "Um cousin, who are your new friends?"

"Well, the blue one's name is Sonic and the other one's name is Soler. They're not from this place and are looking for their friends. By the way, have you seen a red echidna or yellow fox?" She responded. He thought on it for a second.

"Well actually yes I have, these two strange creatures appeared around these parts a while ago." He said. Sonic and Soler looked relieved.

"Where are they?" Soler asked.

"Well, the sheriff took them down to the jailhouse to question them. They didn't put up a fight and said that they were only waiting on their friends. I'm guessing you're their friends?" He answered while looking at the two hedgehogs. They nodded.

"Cousin do you think you can take us to them?" Applejack asked.

"Well, sure I can. Just follow me." He said and led them to the jailhouse. Once they were outside, they could hear someone shouting.

"Like we've been telling you, we're not trying to take any of your DANG APPLES!" They heard the voice shout. Sonic and Soler smiled knowing exactly what hothead said that and dashed into the jailhouse. Once they entered the jailhouse they could see Knuckles steaming sitting on the bed and Tails just shaking his head. The sheriff was on the ground getting frightened by Knuckles' sudden outburst. Sonic and Soler smiled seeing their friends.

"Man, we leave you two for just a day and you're already behind bars." Sonic said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean blue. I mean I would expect it from knucklehead but not Tails." Soler chimed in. Tails and Knuckles looked up and ran to the bars, smiling at their friends.

"Sonic! Soler! I'm so glad to see you guys." Tail said.

"Yeah, it's about time you two got here." Knuckles added. The two hedgehogs also ran up to the bars.

"Yeah well, we wanted to take in the sights a bit before coming to get you two." Soler said, feeling wily.. He looked down at the sheriff and grabbed the keys.

"You don't mind if we take these guys out of your hands, do you?" Soler asked. He shook his head. "Thanks." Soler let them out, and once they were released, Tails gave Sonic a hug and Knuckles fist bumped Soler.

"So where are we?" Tails asked the two.

"Well, we'll explain once we get back to the castle." Sonic said. Tails and Knuckles looked confused.

"Castle? What castle?" Knuckles asked.

"Well unlike you two, we've been making friends since we got here instead of getting locked up. By the way, why didn't you just break the bars, Knuckles? I know you could've with your strength." Soler said.

"Well did you think I was going to force my way out and have whatever forces come here?" Knuckles said back.

"Good thinking knucklehead, now your using your noggin." Sonic replied. The group walked outside back to the group of ponies waiting on them.

"So he does have two tails." Fluttershy said. Tails looked at his tails and nodded.

"Yep had'em my whole life." He said.

"So guys, these are our new friends." Soler started, "The lavender one is Princess Twilight Sparkle, the rainbow maned one is Rainbow Dash, the white unicorn is Rarity, the one with the cowboy hat is Applejack, the pink one is Pinkie Pie, and the one who asked about your tails, Tails, is Fluttershy. Girls, these are our friends, Knuckles and Tails." Soler said. They all greeted each other.

"Okay, so what's this about a castle?" Knuckles asked.

"Oh, you must mean my castle. Yes, like I said to Sonic and Soler, you two are welcome to stay there until you find a way back to your home." Twilight said.

"Well thanks Twilight." Tails said.

"Well now that greetings are out the way let's get back onto the train to head home." Rainbow said. When Sonic heard the word train, he panicked.

"No. Anything but the train again. I can't go through that again." He said, shaking a bit. Soler sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen man, I know it's a boring ride, but hey man, we can endure it one more time." He said trying to reassure him.

"No man, not again, not this time. I'll meet you guys back at the castle. Later." Sonic said and boomed off. Soler sighed.

"We'll meet you guys back at the castle. Sonic, get back here!" He yelled before chasing after the hedgehog.

 _That's chapter 7. Can't believe I've made seven chapters already and people are liking this, I'm truly honored. I've gotten some more reviews and like I said, I'm glad for them, but to one of them to answer why I had them both going so slow in the chase when Soler was in the forest was because in the forest it was dense enough that it prevented Soler from getting too much speed, plus he didn't know the terrain like Rainbow did so she caught up to him pretty easily. And in the castle, they were trying to find their way out so they were only going a moderate speed to pay attention to where they were going. I do know that they both can go faster than the speed of sound and will have them do that later in the story but thanks for pointing that out bro, I'll have to add some speed scenes later on. Well, that's all for now, Solerwolf OUT!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Yeah well. I don't know what to say so read_

 _ **Chapter 8: A Royal Welcome**_

 **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**

The two hedgehogs sat on the stairs that led into Twilight's castle, bored out of their minds. Soler looked at Sonic.

"See? I told you we should've just gotten back on the train, but no, you had to go all stir crazy and decide to run back here instead. Now we got to wait on them to get here." He huffed at him.

"Well, I was not going back on that slow train. The ride back would've been pure torture." Sonic pleaded. Soler looked at him irritably.

"No it wasn't, you just can't sit still long enough to enjoy the ride like everyone else."

"Well excuse me for wanting to go fast. I mean speed is the thing I do best." Sonic said back. Soler just sighed.

"So how much longer until they get here?" Sonic asked him.

"Well, considering that it only took us about an hour and a half to get back here, since you wanted to get back as fast as possible, they'll probs be here by tomorrow afternoon." Soler retorted, Sonic was dumbfounded.

"Really? But that's such a long time." He complained.

"Well you if hadn't run off, then we could be relaxing with the others. " Soler said plainly. The two sat there in silence for a while longer.

"So what do you want to do?" Sonic asked. Soler thought on the question.

 _What could we do to pass the time and not cause trouble?_ Soler pondered until Spike came bursting out of the castle. The two hedgehogs turned back to look at him.

"What's the rush, Spike? Someone in danger?" Sonic asked. Spike ran down to the two breathing hard.

"I…got…a…letter…" He started saying in-between huffs.

 _He must've been near the back of the castle since he's so out of breath._ The two hedgehogs thought simultaneously.

"Take your time Spike, we're not going anywhere. You got a letter from who?" Soler said to him. Spike caught his breath for a second and continued.

"A letter from Princess Celestia. She wants to meet you two and your friends. As soon as possible." He finished. Sonic and Soler looked at each other with confused looks.

"Why does she want to meet us?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I'm guessing so that she can ask you guys some questions and meet you." Spike responded. He took a look around and saw that they were the only two present.

"Where are the others?" He asked. Soler gave Sonic an annoyed look to which he just scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Well, blue boy here was going stir crazy and had to run back here instead of taking the train like everyone else." Soler answered.

"Well you know, I hate sitting still for too long and the train ride there was brutal." Sonic complained, Soler just sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever blue, but what are we going to do about meeting the princess? We can't just wait for the others, they most likely won't be here till tomorrow!" Soler exclaimed. The group thought on the predicament for a moment. Sonic then stood up grabbing the attention of the others.

"Well there's only one thing to do." He started coolly. Soler and Spike looked at each other in unified confusion. He smirked and looked at them, "We're just going to have to go and meet her." Spike looked at him confused.

"But what about the others? She wants to see them too. We should wait for them." Spike said. Soler's still bore a confused expression for a second but then he began to smirk like Sonic and stood up.

"Yeah, we probably should wait for the others but that's not particularly our style, ya know?" Soler said as he and Sonic walked down the steps and to the train station. Spike followed them wondering what they were planning.

"What do you guys mean 'not your style'? It would be best to wait." Spike implored, but the two kept their pace to the station. Sonic pulled out his communicator and contacted Tails,

"Tails, come in bud." They could hear Tail voice come in.

"I'm here Sonic, what's up?" Before Sonic could say anything they heard a very angry Knuckles shout at him.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM HEDGEHOGS? LEAVING US LIKE THAT! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU TWO, YOU'RE DEAD!" He had to move the mic away from his ear.

"Glad to see you too, buddy. Now Tails, like I was saying, Soler and I are going to have an audience with the princess and should be back by the time you get here, okay?" Sonic said. Then Twilight came in on the mic.

"What? Why are you two going to meet the princess? And without us? Just wait until we get there so we can all go there together." She told them. Soler spoke in the mic next.

"Well Twi, we would but that's not our style. And besides, you guys would take too long to get here so we're going to just solo this mission, okay? Don't worry, I'll make sure Sonic behaves." He said ever-so-slyly. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Okay, we'll talk to you guys when we see you tomorrow, okay? Later." Sonic finished and closed his communicator. As they made it to the station they looked around for a castle.

"So Spike, where is it that the princess stays? I don't see a castle anywhere." Soler said.

"Well, the princess stays in Canterlot. It's a huge city on the side of a mountain, you can see it from here a little bit." Spike said as he pointed to the city in the distance. Soler and Sonic looked at the city and then began to stretch.

"So how long do you think it will take us to get there?" Sonic asked Soler.

"Well, it should take about an hour or so. It looks like a day's ride by train, so if we push it, we should be able to get there in about an hour." He responded. Spike was confused.

"Don't tell me you guys are planning on running and getting there in an hour? Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer and even she would need at least a half day of full flying to get there." Spike said. Both hedgehogs smiled at the little dragon.

"Well we're faster than RD." Soler said, "We'll see you later Spike." Before Spike could respond, both hedgehogs boomed out of the station towards Canterlot. He was left in amazement at the speed that the two held.

 **(P.O.V. none, The Train)**

Tails closed the communicator as he sighed about the two hedgehogs.

"What are those two thinking, going to meet the princess without the rest of us?" Rainbow said to the rest of them. Knuckles huffed and crossed his arms.

"Well, that's just the way those two are, even though Soler has more sense than Sonic does at times, he tends to just follow him in his antics." Knuckles said.

"Yeah, Soler might not show it, but he looks up to Sonic in how carefree he can be and still do the right thing most of the time." Tails chimed in. The girls gave each other worried looks.

"Well, we trust you Tails and Knuckles." Fluttershy said softly.

"Well I don't know about yawl, but I think it was mighty rude of them to just leave their friends like that without a warning. I mean they only just got in this world and they ditched them so fast." Applejack said. Knuckles sighed.

"Yeah well, we're used to it. I mean, they are two of the fastest things alive so being left in the dust is common. We don't hold it against them." Knuckles responded. Rainbow's ears perked when she heard him say they were the fastest.

"I'm sorry Knuckles, but I think you got it confused, I'm the fastest there is." She said proudly. Knuckles and Tails looked at each other and chuckled. Rainbow looked mad that they just laughed at her skills.

"What's so funny? I am the fastest." Rainbow protested. Now even the other ponies were wondering why they were laughing. Tails spoke as his laughter died down.

"We're sorry, Rainbow. We don't meant any disrespect by it, but I don't think there's anybody as fast as those two." He said. The others looked at the two in confusion.

"Sorry Tails, but Rainbow is the fastest flyer in Equestria. No pony can go as fast as her." Twilight said.

"Yeah well, Sonic and Soler aren't ponies, they're hedgehogs and they haven't lost to anyone in a race besides each other." Knuckles said. Rainbow didn't look convinced but before she could say anything back, Pinkie chimed in.

"Well I'm sure that Soler and Sonic are really really fast, but our Dashie is the only one who can pull of a Sonic Rainboom. Can Sonic or Soler do that?" Pinkie said in defense of her Rainbow Dash. RD smirked knowing that no one can even coming close to pulling off a rainboom. Tails quickly pondered on it for a second before answering.

"So this Sonic Rainboom I'm guessing is caused by you breaking the sound barrier and I guess it creates some sorta flash of light that resembles a rainbow?" Tails said. The girls nodded in agreement. Tails slightly laughed.

"Well, Sonic and Soler both break the sound barrier several times when they run, and they don't have to push themselves to do it. Even when they just go on a simple run they tend to break it." Tails said. The girls were in disbelief that those two hedgehogs were that fast. Rainbow took it the hardest, seeing as she might not be the fastest.

"I'm sorry Tails darling, but that doesn't sound possible to just break the sound barrier with such ease." Rarity said.

"That's just how it is with those two. They tend to do the impossible." Knuckles said. The girls didn't know how to respond, Tails saw this and spoke up.

"Look girls, we're not trying to cause problems or start any with this topic. I'm sure Rainbow is fast in her own right, but their isn't anything or anyone we've seen able to match their speed other than a few exceptions." Fluttershy spoke up next.

"We know Tails, and we're sorry if it seems like we're acting hostile, but it's just hard to believe that there's someone faster than Rainbow." She finished. Tails nodded in agreement.

"I understand, Fluttershy." He said. The group was rather quiet for next few hours of the ride. While the group was quiet Rainbow was deep in her thoughts.

 _I'm going to have to test those two speed for myself. No way those two are that fast._

 **(P.O.V. Sonic & Soler, Canterlot)**

The two hedgehogs made it to Canterlot in just under an hour like Soler said. The two walked through the gates and admired the look of the city. It looked like the top ponies lived here since all of the building look like they were worth all of Ponyville. The streets were clean and bright as if they were constantly being cleaned and the ponies they saw walking around matched the style of the area.

"Hmm, I'm guessing only the most well-to-do of citizens live here." Sonic said. Soler only nodded while admiring the architecture of the place.

"You know, I don't think that I've ever seen architecture quite like this before." Soler pointed out, Sonic wasn't really paying attention to that, but rather to the different smells.

"Oh man, I don't think I've ever smelled foods like this before." He said as he touched his stomach, "And I'm so hungry." Soler just smirked and put his arm around him.

"Hey, look man, I'm sure when we meet the princess, she'll give us some grub." Soler confided to him. The blue hedgehog brightened up with the hope of food.

"Okay then, what are we waiting for? Let's go see the princess." Sonic said as he was about to dash off but Soler caught him.

"Dude we should walk there and not cause too much of a scene." He said. Sonic stopped running and realized that the citizens were looking at the two in curiosity, wondering what they were and where they came from.

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed. Soler let go of Sonic and took a brief look around to spot the castle. The two hedgehogs didn't notice but a white stallion in gold armor had walked up to them.

"Excuse me sirs, but the princess has told us of your arrival and to bring you to her as soon as you arrived. So please, follow me." The stallion finished. The two looked at each other and followed him to the castle. The two walked through the main doors of the massive castle, impressed by how much bigger this place was compared to Twilight's castle. The stallion stopped in front of two massive doors that rose from the floor to the ceiling.

"This is where I leave you two, the princess will be seeing you in there so enter when you are ready." He said and walked off, leaving the two alone in front of the doors.

"Huh. I wonder how long it took them to make this place." Soler said looking around, "It must've cost a fortune too." Sonic chimed in.

"I know what you mean man, I mean look at these rugs they had to have been hoof made." He mocked. Soler just gave him an annoyed look.

"There's no need to be sarcastic. I'm just admiring the castle." Soler said. Sonic just laughed a bit.

"I know man. I know how you're into that stuff. I just like to tease." He said, "Now come on let's go meet royalty." Sonic started towards the doors but Soler stopped him.

"What's the matter?" He asked looking back at him.

"Are you going to be on your best behavior?" Soler asked. Sonic looked appalled at the question.

"Dude, you know I'm only on my best behavior." He said. Soler didn't looked convinced.

"Remember when we had to meet the king of that far off land back on Mobius and because he dissed chili dogs you went on a rant about how good they are and why it was disrespectful to say that they weren't good when it was his opinion?" Soler said.

"Hey, chili dogs are the best things that were ever created and it was disrespectful to talk down about them. I mean, someone had to defend them." Sonic tried to retort. Soler just sighed.

"Look, just stay cool, which I know you, know how to do, okay?" Sonic just nodded and opened the doors to the throne room. The throne room was so massive that you could fit all of the citizens of Canterlot and Ponyville in it and still have room for more.

"Man. These guys sure do go above and beyond." Sonic said as they walked to the thrones. As they walked the long walk, the two noticed that there were stained glass windows that was telling some sort of story. Soler stopped to look at them, which caused Sonic to as well.

"What is it Soler?" He asked.

"Look at the window. Don't those ponies look like Twilight and her friends." He asked. Sonic took a look at the windows and was shocked that he was right, that it did look like Twilight and her friends.

"Yeah, but why would they be on windows in a castle?" He asked.

"Well that would be because Princess Twilight and her friends have protected this world countless times and these are how we remember their acts of heroism." A majestic voice answered. The two hedgehogs looked at each other.

"I didn't say that."

"Neither did I." They said to each other. The voice giggled.

"I'm the one who said that." The two looked behind them and saw the most magnificent pony they had ever seen. Her coat was an ivory white and her mane and tail flowed with an assortment of colors. She had wings and a horn much like Twilight did but she look much older, wiser, than anybody else they'd seen. Almost like as if she's been around for a very long time but retained her youth. She had a sun type of mark on her flank too. When the two looked at her she radiated wisdom, respect, kindness and much more. She looked at the two gawking hedgehogs and giggled.

"I'm guessing this is the first time you two have seen an alicorn like me?" The two nodded. This made her giggle again, "Well, my name is Princess Celestia and I welcome you to Equestria."

 _Chapter 8, done. I like how the story is going so far and I'll admit that I'm taking my time with it, trying not to just jump into the action or drama, ya know. I'm going to be changing up the rate I upload. I got a review a while ago, and because I do post often, people aren't given the time to read the story or might overwhelm them. So when I see that enough people have read the latest chapter, I'll upload the next. Oh also, I'm in need of some ideas about some protagonists I can add in so PM me with an idea or just leave it and I will give you credit if I use it. So that's it, Solerwolf OUT!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Let_ _'_ _s see what I can do._

 _ **Chapter 9: Princess of the Night**_

 **(P.O.V. none, Celestia's Castle)**

As the two hedgehogs were gawking at the princess, Soler snapped out of his gaze because he remembered something that was on his mind.

"So you guys are called Alicorns?" He asked her. She simply nodded her head in agreement, "I could've sworn you guys would be called pegacorn or something but alicorn has a better ring to it." Soler said. Celestia giggled at the hedgehog's remark.

"Well I'm glad you like it. Now can I get the names of my new visitors?" She asked them sweetly. Soler was about to respond but then noticed that Sonic was still gawking and nudged him out of it. Sonic realized what he was doing and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, my name is Sonic the Hedgehog, your majesty." He said while bowing.

"And I'm Soler the Hedgehog your grace." Soler said while also bowing to her. Celestia bowed her head to them as a sign of respect.

"Well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now where are the others? I know when I sent that letter to Spike, I asked for all of you." She asked the two. Soler looked at Sonic with an annoyed face to which he just scratched the back of his head.

"Well princess, we were with the others a while ago when we went to Appleloosa to get our friends, but someone here was going stir crazy about riding the train again, so he decided to run off back to Ponyville, which I had to follow." Soler replied. Sonic shrunk down a bit.

"Well, when you put it like that, you make it seem like I could've taken the train again." He added.

"You could have taken the train again!" Soler shouted at him.

"Well it would've been torture to ride it again." Sonic said as he tried to defend himself. Soler sighed.

"We apologize princess, but the others won't catch up to us, probably not till tomorrow or so." Soler finished. She simply smiled.

"That's quite alright. We can wait for the rest to get here tomorrow. You two are welcome to stay here in the castle until then. And please, just call me Celestia." She finished with a soft laugh. The way that Celestia presented herself and spoke to them had a calming effect that set them at ease.

"Thank you prince… I mean, Celestia." Soler said. She smiled.

"Now you two are welcome to roam the castle and I'll have a maid show you to your rooms." She said. Before the two could walk off another question popped into Soler's head.

"Wait Celestia, I have another question." He asked running back to her.

"Yes?"

"Well when we first entered your world, we went into an old castle in a weird forest and it had some tapestries there that had someone that resembled you on them. But it couldn't be you because they looked like they have been there for a very long time and you don't look older than maybe your early to mid thirties." He finished. This made her giggle some more.

"Well I appreciate the compliment, but yes, that is me on those tapestries you saw. I'm a lot older than I appear." She said. Soler was in slight disbelief that she could be that old but still looked so young. Then one last question popped in his head.

"Well okay then, but one last question. Another thing I saw there was another alicorn with you but from the damage of the castle it looked like you two had a falling out, so what happened to her?" He asked. Celestia's smile waivered for a moment, which gave Soler the idea that this was a touchy subject, "Hey Celestia, you don't have to tell me if it's too personal." She smiled a bit from his concern.

"It's quite alright Soler, but the other alicorn you saw was my sister, Luna, and yes, we did have a falling out if that is what you would call it. I ended up having to banish her to the moon for a long time." She started. Even this caught Sonic's attention as they both wondered how something like that could happen in a peaceful place like this.

"What happened to her?" Sonic asked. Celestia brightened up.

"Well thankfully, Twilight and her friends brought her back to me." She said. The two hedgehogs looked at each other thinking that this place is a little more complex than they thought.

"Well thank you Celestia for answering my questions, we'll be going to our rooms." Soler said. Celestia smiled.

"It's a pleasure. I'll be happy to answer more questions anytime you have them. And please, enjoy your stay at the castle." She said as she walked off. Then Sonic had a very important question himself.

"Oh Celestia, do you have anything to eat?" He asked.

Later that evening, the two hedgehogs were walking the castle, viewing at all it had. The two had already been in the massive library, they've seen the gardens, and they've also been near the top of the castle out on the balcony.

"Man. This castle is way bigger than I thought." Sonic said with his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, agreed. Like, it looked big on the outside but on the inside it's way bigger than it looks. These guys really know how to make buildings." Soler pointed out. The two made it to another balcony as the sun was starting to set. They got a beautiful view of all of Canterlot and they could see what looked like Ponyville in the distance. The feel of the wind blowing through their quills was calming.

"You know, even though I love going fast and action, it's nice to be able to take some time to just slow down and enjoy the scenery, ya know?" Sonic said. Soler gave him the most admonishing look he could give. Sonic looked confused.

"What, did I say something wrong?" He asked. Soler only sighed and shook is head. "Nothing man let's just get to sleep. I'm sure we'll have to do a lot of explaining in the morning." Soler said and the two made their way to their rooms as night began to fall.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

It was the middle of the night and Soler had woken up from a strange dream.

"Man dreams are weird." Soler said to himself. He looked out his window to see the moon shining bright. He stretched and put his shoes on as he got up.

"Welp, might as well go meditate for a while." He said and walked out of his room into the empty halls. He roamed the halls a bit looking for a place to meditate. He then saw that there was a mini garden inside an area of the castle. He walked out onto the grass and was amazed that this place seems like it's in the center of the castle. The place also had a perfect view of the moon from here too. There was nothing covering the area from the top, so he got a full view of the moon. He took in a deep breath and exhaled out.

"This place is perfect." He said and sat down. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes as he was trying to focus on any energy around him. His body became completely still in his concentration. He could feel the Chaos Emerald that he carried pulse with energy, yet he could also vaguely feel the energies of the other Emeralds, very far away. As he was meditating he also started to feel another type of energy that wasn't from the Chaos Emeralds. It felt kinda familiar, then he remembered the feeling. It was the same one he felt right before he and the others got teleported into this world but the energy felt like it was coming from everywhere around him. The weird thing about the energy was that he couldn't feel anything malicious about it, just peace and tranquility. He opened his eyes and looked up to the moon.

"Man Luna, I wish you could be here to experience this." He said aloud.

"Well I am here." He heard a voice say. He jumped and turned around to see who said it. He turned to see an alicorn, smaller than Celestia, her coat colored a dark midnight. Her mane and tail flowed continuously like Celestia's does but hers looked like the night sky covered with stars. And her eyes were a teal color that seemed to shine in the moonlight. She also had a crescent moon on her flank. She caught Soler off guard, and he blushed slightly. She looked at him in curiosity.

"Well, I know I haven't seen anything like you before and you seem to know my name while don't know yours. So would thee prattle thy name?" She asked. Soler was still a little stricken by her and his blush hadn't gone away. Luna noticed his blush and smiled.

"I take it you are enjoying the view." She asked slyly. That comment seemed to break him of his trance.

"Hey, I'm the one who makes flirty jokes around here." Soler said. That's seemed to make Luna smile.

"Well now, I'm not the one blushing, aren't I?" She asked. Soler noticed that now he was blushing and sighed.

"Well you got me there. My name which is Soler the Hedgehog." He said as he bowed to her. Luna bowed back.

"Well it appears you already know my name, which, if I may ask, how it is you know my name?" She asked. He thought about his Luna and decided that it wasn't time to start revealing his past.

"Well I heard it from Celestia when she was talking with you." He responded. This seemed to satisfy Luna and she smiled. Soler seeing this made him blush again to which he noticed and looked away.

 _What is wrong with me tonight?_ He thought with himself.

"So what brings a princess like you out on a night like this?" He asked. She giggled a bit.

"Well, why don't I let you guess why?" She replied. Soler had a questioning look on his face but played along.

"Hmm… Okay, you like the night air." She nodded.

"Yes I do, but that's not why I'm out. Try again." Soler thought.

"Hmm… You like the way the moon shines at night." Soler said. She nodded again.

"Right again, but also wrong again. I'll give thee one more try." She said. Soler thought on it once more before answering.

"You like to sneak up on unsuspecting hedgehogs and scaring the life out of them?" Soler said. This made her laugh which made him laugh too.

"Well no, but it was funny to see you startled." She admitted.

"Well then, why are you out here Luna?" He asked.

"Well I'm the princess of the night, so I tend to be up around this time. I raise and lower the moon every night and tend to things that happen during the night." She said. Hearing this blew Soler's mind a bit.

 _So here, someone raises and lowers the moon?_ He wondered. All the science in his head seemed to have been blown away at the statement. Luna saw his face, which made her laugh.

"What, is it that surprising that I raise and lower the moon?" She asked. He snapped out of it.

"Well I mean, in my world the way the moon rises is by our planet rotating on its axis. And the brightness of the moon in my world is caused by the sun's rays reflecting off of it, which allows a full moon only once or twice a month. But here, the moon seems to be full and bright every night." He finished. Luna was intrigued by the way the moon worked in Soler's world.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I raise the moon and Celestia raises the sun, and we do this with our magic." She said. When he heard the word magic, it didn't catch him by as much surprise as Luna thought it was going to.

"Well that didn't seem to catch you by surprise as much as I thought it would. Do you have magic in your world?" She asked. He thought on how to answer.

"Well we do have some people that can use magic, but none of it is strong enough to raise the moon or the sun." He answered. The two were in silence for a little while.

"Well do you mind if I sit next to you and enjoy the night?" She asked him. This caught him by surprise but he nodded and scooted over for her to lie down next to him. The two were looking up at the moon, enjoying the night in silence. Soler caught a look at her as she looked at the moon and was stunned. "

 _Wow, the way that the_ _moon's_ _light just reflects off her eyes makes the_ _m_ _shine bright in the night. And her flowing mane that looks like the night only adds to her beau_ _…_ He stopped his thoughts and shook his head, _What are you doing hedgehog?_ _Y_ _ou shouldn't be having those thoughts._ What he didn't notice was that while he was debating in his head, Luna had been looking at him. She could see the blush on his face as he was thinking. This made her smile for some reason that she couldn't think of.

"Well Soler, as much as I enjoyed our time together, I must get going. Celestia will be getting up to raise the sun in a while and it will be time for me to get to bed, which I advise you to do too." She said as she stood. Soler snapped out of his thoughts and stood up too.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Princess Luna. Hopefully we will meet again. And maybe enjoy another peaceful night together." He finished immediately realizing what he said and face palmed himself. Luna giggled.

"Well I would love to enjoy another night with you Soler the Hedgehog."

"Please Princess, you can just call me Soler." He said, to which she nodded.

"Then you may just call me Luna." She said as she unfolded her wings and took off into the night. Soler stood there watching her leave just thinking.

 _Man what's gotten into me?_ _T_ _hat's the first time I've acted like that since…_ He shook his head, _No, keep your head straight hedgehog._ _N_ _o repeats._ He thought to himself before walking back to his room for some sleep.

 _Chapter 9 in the bag! To be honest, even I didn't think this chapter would turn out like this but it felt so natural to write compared to what I was going to write_ _._ _I had to keep going ya know. Thanks to all those who read, new and old comers alike, whelp this is Solerwolf OUT!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Whelp, it_ _'_ _s official_ _…_ _I'm in love with the story_ _…_

 _ **Chapter 10: Off to**_ _ **Manehattan**_

 **** **(P.O.V. none, Celestia** **'** **s Castle)**

Soler yawned as he was toying with his breakfast at the large table. Sonic was next to him, happily enjoying his meal of pancakes. Sonic looked over at Soler, and saw the tiredness in his eyes and how he seemed to be thinking about something.

"Somefing on your bind?" Sonic said with mouthful of pancakes. Soler looked at him.

"Swallow before you speak, please, and nothing's wrong. Just had a long night, is all." He replied. Sonic swallowed.

"Well, why did you have a long night?" He asked him. Soler remembered the night he had with the Princess of the night. He remembered their conversation and the way that she looked in the moonlight. He shook his head.

"Stop that, hedgehog." He said. Sonic looked confused.

"Stop what, man? I haven't done anything." Sonic said. Soler realized that he said that aloud and looked at Sonic.

"Oh nothing, man. Just thinking about something and had to shout it out to the world, ya know?" He replied with a sly smile. Sonic squinted his eyes and looked at him with suspicion, as if he was really trying to figure out what was truly going on. Soler could feel himself sweating a bit, hoping that he wouldn't figure anything out. Sonic continued to stare, and then he asked a question in a serious tone.

"Soler."

"Yeah?" He replied, gulping.

"I have one more question. Are you going to finish your pancakes?" Sonic asked. Soler's eye twitched.

"Sure man, go ahead." He said and scooted his plate to him to, which he gladly started to eat. "It amazes me how at times you can be the hero anyone will look up to, and yet still act like a child at other times." Soler said to him. Sonic just continued to eat his food happily.

"I'm one uf a kind." He said mouth full. Soler smirked.

"Swallow man. And yes, yes you are." Sonic swallowed and gave his award-winning smile to him. Just then Celestia came into the dining room. She smiled as she saw the two hedgehogs eating.

"Good morning you two. Sleep well?" She asked them as she took a seat at the top of the table. The two looked at her and smiled back.

"Yeah, I slept pretty well Celestia, but I don't know about Soler here." Sonic said poking Soler. This caught her attention.

"Why didn't you sleep well, Soler? Did you have a bad dream?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Soler gave Sonic a glare, and then looked back at Celestia.

"No Princess. I didn't have a bad dream, I just had a long night is all. Nothing to worry about, I assure you." He responded with a smile. Celestia looked at him and could see a hint of weariness in his eyes, but decided to let it go.

"Okay Soler, I trust your judgment." She responded. Soler let out a sigh of relief. Celestia ate her breakfast and was about to leave until she remembered something to tell them.

"Oh Soler, Sonic, the others will be here soon. So could you please meet me in in the throne room once you're done eating?" She called as she left the room Sonic and Soler looked at each other.

"Welp, better get ready then." Soler said drinking the last of his juice. Sonic sighed.

"Yeah, you're right about that." The two finished their breakfast and made their way to the throne room, dreading each step.

 **(P.O.V. none, Throne Room)**

Soler and Sonic were sitting at the foot of the throne while Celestia was signing some papers. Sonic watched her has she did this and noticed that the papers were levitating and her horn was also lit up.

"Hey Celestia, are you using psychogenesis?" He asked her. She stopped from what she was doing and gave him a questioning look.

"What is that?" She asked. Soler chimed in.

"It's where you can move objects with your mind and such." He answered. She nodded.

"Well Sonic, I'm not using the technique you are speaking of. I'm just using my magic to lift the papers." She responded. Sonic nodded and went back to laying on the steps until he sat back up realizing what she said.

"What? You can use magic?" He asked in disbelief. She nodded and smiled.

"Yes, all unicorns can use magic in this world." She responded as she went back to her work. Sonic thought about it for a second, then shrugged and laid back down.

"That's kinda cool. You guys can use magic." He said. Soler sighed and sat up.

"Shouldn't they be here by now? It's almost midmorning." He said standing up.

"Yeah, it has been awhile. I wonder what's taking them so long?" Sonic said standing up as well. Celestia was still doing her work when she answered.

"I'm sure they're almost here. Just be patient my little hedgehogs." Soler and Sonic looked at each other, then back at her.

"My little hedgehog?" They said together. She stopped and realized what she had said.

"I'm sorry. I always call my subjects "my little ponies" to calm them. It's a habit." She said returning to her work. The two shrugged it off.

"Well, we should be able to go for a quick run before they get here." Sonic said, starting to stretch.

"Yeah, I'm sure we could." Soler responded also beginning to stretch.

"Yeah, plus we're still tied aren't we?" Sonic said with a smirk.

"This could be our tie breaker." Soler smirked too.

"You're on hedgehog." Before either of them could take a step, the main doors to the throne room opened up and the rest of their friends walked in. The two put on a smile.

"Hey guys, glad to see you made it her..." Knuckles charged up to the two hedgehogs, fuming. He cut off Sonic.

"Well I know I'm going to regret this but, hey Knux, you're looking redder than normal. You using a new moisturizer for your fur?" Soler asked. Knuckles looked like he was going to explode when Celestia noticed this and instinctively used her magic to create a pair of earmuffs to cover her ears.

"YOU TWO FULL-HEARTED, HALF-BRAINED, ONE-MINDED, IDIOTIC…"

"Charming?" Sonic said.

"CHARMING…" Knuckles stopped and Sonic shriveled up under his death glare.

"WHAT MAKES YOU TWO THINK IT WAS ALRIGHT TO JUST LEAVE ALL OF US BEHIND AND THEN WHEN YOU CONTACT US, IT'S TO GIVE US A VAGUE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU WERE DOING?" He continued, both hedgehogs huddling up together. "WHAT DO YOU TWO HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!" Knuckles finished. Neither hedgehog wanted to reply, but Soler spoke up anyway.

"You have very pretty eyes." He joked, instantly putting a hand over his mouth. Sonic facepalmed himself, knowing that his smart mouth had doomed them. Knuckles turned a deeper shade of red, looking like he was going to explode twice as much on them than what he did before. He was just about to when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Knuckles turned around to see Applejack.

"Well I know that these two hedgehogs deserve a good talking to, but maybe we can settle the rest back at home partner?" She asked. Soler and Sonic looked at each other thinking he was going to shout at her, but he didn't. He actually started to calm down. Knuckles looked into her eyes and for some reason they had a calming effect on him; the way her eyes didn't waver made him feel like he could just trust her with everything. He let out a deep sigh.

"Yeah. You're right. We can deal with them later." He said. She smiled.

"'Thanks partner." Sonic and Soler sighed in relief, glad that Applejack had saved them.

"Don't think this is over, you two. Just because she calmed me down now doesn't mean you're off the hook." Knuckles said. The two gulped. An hour or two had passed as the group explained all of what happened to the Princess.

"So that light we saw in the sky a few days ago was because you had caused this Chaos Control?" Celestia asked. Soler nodded.

"Yeah. It seems like that must be the case since the two both happened at the same time." He responded. Applejack spoke up.

"But from the way that you fellers were describing it, it shouldn't have been that bright a light." She added, "My cousin Braeburn said they could see that light as bright as day in Appleloosa."

"Just like here in Canterlot." Celestia said. Soler thought about the situation.

"Hmm… Tails, you got anything from this?" He asked him. Tails seemed to be having the same face as him thinking even harder.

'Well if the light that was seen was as bright as they say and could be seen from here to Appleloosa, then there might be a possibility that the Chaos Control took more than just us here." He concluded. Sonic let out a deeply annoyed sigh, fostering looks from the others.

"What's wrong, darling? If that Chaos Control thing took more than you boys here than that just means more of your friends could be here too." Rarity said. Sonic just shook his head,

"Yeah, I know that. But it could also mean that a certain egghead could've been brought here as well." He said, beyond irritated. Rainbow spoke up this time.

"An egghead? What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"He means Eggman." Knuckles said with his arms crossed. All of the girls looked confused, even the Princess.

"Who is Eggman?" Twilight asked.

"He's an evil genius who wants to conquer planets and build his Eggman Empire." Tails said.

"Well I'm sure something with a silly name such as Eggman can't be that bad." Pinkie said.

"Sorry Pinkie, but this is one guy you don't want to mess with. We stop him on an almost daily basis back in our world. Mostly from turning others into robots." Soler said. They looked shocked by this.

"He even does this to animals?" Fluttershy asked. Soler looked at her.

"Especially animals, Flutters. He uses then as a power source for his robots so that they move with more of a conscience when they fight." He responded. She looked hurt to hear this. It looked like she was about to cry until she buried her face into Tails. This caught him by surprise but he accepted it and held her to calm her. Sonic hated seeing that this is what Eggman can cause. He walked in front of the Princess, all of his coolness gone, filled with a sudden seriousness.

"Princess Celestia, we need to make sure that if Eggman is here, that he doesn't get any of the Chaos Emeralds. He can cause a lot of harm if he gets his hands on them." Sonic said. Rainbow noticed how his whole attitude had changed and he looked more like a hero than from when she first meet him. "I won't let him cause harm to any of your people, Princess. I promise you." He said as he dropped down on one knee and bowed his head.

"You have my word."

The others watched him, surprised by how serious he became, all except for Soler, Tails, and Knuckles. Soler followed his lead and stepped up next to him and dropped to one knee.

"You have my word too, Princess." He said. Knuckles and Tails followed them and fell on one knee as well.

"You have our word too, Princess." They said. Everyone looked at the four in awe on how serious they were with their promise. Celestia stood from her throne and walked in front of the bowing group.

"Rise, my brave visitors." She said. They rose to attention, "I can see that your wills aren't staggering, your minds are set, and your hearts are pure. I give you this task; to collect the Chaos Emeralds, and to make sure that they don't fall into the wrong hands." The four bowed.

"We won't let you down." They said in unison. Celestia smiled.

"I know you won't, especially with Twilight Sparkle and her friends' help, I'm sure you won't fail." She finished, the mane 6 standing at attention,

"You can count on us, Princess." Twilight said. Celestia smiled while looking at the group before her.

"Well, you are dismissed. If I find any information or find out anything out of the ordinary, I will send out a letter immediately." The group nodded and left the Princess. As they were exiting the door, Celestia called Soler back for a moment.

"Oh Soler, could you come back for a moment? I have a message for you." She said to Soler as he walked back to her as the group left.

"Yes Princess?" He asked. Celestia levitated a letter to him. It had a seal that closed it, like a crescent moon.

"What's this?" He asked. Celestia smirked.

"My sister wanted me to give this to you before you left. She said something about having enjoyed your evening together and that she will be looking forward to another on." She said. Soler blushed from hearing this. Celestia giggled from seeing his face.

"She told me you would do that once you got the message." Celestia said. Soler fumed slightly and turned to leave. As he walked out the throne room he spoke under his breath.

"Gosh dang it, Luna."

 **(P.O.V. Soler & Sonic, Ponyville Park)**

A few days had passed since they last spoke to Celestia and Soler and Sonic were relaxing in the park. Soler was lying on a tree branch while Sonic was lying on the trunk. Sonic yawned.

"Hey Soler, do you ever think that since we got here that we've been relaxing a lot?" He asked. Soler thought about his question.

"Nah man, you're just over-thinking things. We're like, twice as lazy as this back home." Soler responded. Sonic pondered on his response and agreed with a nod. They went back to silence enjoying the day.

"Hey, where are Tails and Knuckles?" Soler asked.

"Well, I know that Knuckles is at AJ's farm helping them collect apples, and I think Tails is over at Fluttershy's helping with her the animals." Sonic replied. Soler thought on it.

"Those two have been acting kinda out of character since we arrived here. Almost as if there's some sort of outside force changing how they act to please the context of how the story is going and to fit in this world, ya know?" Soler finished. Sonic opened his eyes and looked up at him in confusion.

"Dude, what are you talking about?" He asked. Before Soler could respond, they saw that a unicorn was running towards them with a letter levitating, her horn alight with magic. The unicorn had a pink coat, her tail and mane was a purple and grayish blue. The mark on her flank, her Cutie Mark, was a purple and white star with two glimmering streams coming from it. She stopped in front of the two, huffing a little.

"I have a letter from the Princess and was told to bring you back to the castle. The others are already there." She said. Soler jumped down from the tree.

"You must be Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's student, right?" He asked her. She nodded.

"How do you know of me?"

"Twilight talks about you sometimes. Where have you been these past few days?" He asked.

"Well, I've been in the Crystal Empire visiting a friend of mine and only just recently came back." She said. Soler nodded and while the two were conversing, Sonic was reading the letter. His eyes widened once he had gotten to a certain point and got Soler's attention.

"Soler, hey, listen to this." He said catching the two attention.

"What does it say man?" He asked Sonic. Sonic read pieces of the letter.

"Well it starts with the usual greetings and how are we doing blah, blah, blah. But here's where it gets good, _I have gotten reports that some citizens have seen a black creature lately. They say that it doesn't attack anyone but he seems to be searching for something and only stays up high. One other distinguishing feature about this being_ _are_ _it's red eyes as they catch a glimpse of them before it disappears._ " He finished. Soler looked in surprise but started to smile.

"So he also got brought here. Tails was right. We weren't the only ones that got sent there. Where is it that they have seen him?" Soler asked. Sonic read the letter more before answering.

"She says in some place called Manehattan." They looked at each other with smiles.

"Welp, it looks like we're off the Manehattan." Soler said as the two ran off to the castle. Starlight was still standing there in bewilderment.

"Who is it that's in Manehattan?"

 _Chapter 10 complete. To be honest, I didn't think that I was going to be doing 10 chapters, but I love it. I don't have much to say this time,_ _other than I_ _just can't wait to see how this story is going to progress, and I'm making it! Whelp, that's all so Solerwolf OUT!_ _(P.S. sorry for any errors kind of tired when I posted this)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Yep start of arc 1 equals longer chapters…yay…_

 _ **Chapter 11:**_ _ **Manehattan**_ _ **Pt. 1: Hedgehog Hunt**_

 **(P.O.V. None** **Twilight's** **Castle)**

The group was sitting around a huge table discussing their new information. Soler and Sonic burst into the room with happy face.

"Have you guys seen Celestia's letter?" Sonic asked smiling.

"Yeah, I mean, we gotta go get him right? I mean, we all know who it is, right?" Soler said. Tails and Knuckles nodded their heads, but the girls didn't.

"Well obviously, you guys seem to know him but won't tell us who he is." Twilight said, annoyed.

"Yeah, I mean, I have a feeling that he's some friend of yours, but from the information the Princess has given us, it leaves some blanks. SO, you guys need to fill them in." Rainbow said, to which the other girls nodded. Sonic spoke up.

"Oh come on girls, a little mystery never hurt anyone. Am I right? Just let it be a surprise." He said. The girls didn't look pleased with that response. A sweat drop trickled down the side of his head as he smiled sheepishly.

"Fine, his name is Shadow, and he's a friend from our world. Now, can we go to this Manehattan and bring him back here already?" Soler added. The girls looked at each other.

"His name is Shadow?" AJ asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, he's not as scary as he sounds." Soler reassured.

"Speak for yourself. He's only not scary to you because of your past." Sonic said. Soler looked at him.

"Well you two would probably have a better relationship if you didn't accuse each other of being fakes of the other when you first met." He retorted. Sonic glared at him.

"Hey! You know he started it." Sonic said.

"And who continued it? You know it takes two to tango, Sonic."

"Two to tango my butt! He shouldn't have attacked me first." Sonic said back.

"If I remember the stories, you attacked him first in that forest." Soler responded, Sonic fumed. The two hedgehogs continued going back and forth while the others discussed their next step.

"Well besides those two arguing again, we really should go and get Shadow. He's very strong and I'm positive he will help us find the rest of the Emeralds." Tails said. Fluttershy spoke up.

"What about machine that you have been working on Tails? Once it's finished, shouldn't that help us track down those emeralds?"

"Well it could, but I don't have all the supplies and materials to make it. I love your world, but you guys don't have the materials needed to make it. Sorry." He said.

"It's okay Tails, we understand." Fluttershy said back sweetly. It made him smile that she was so nice.

"So Tails' machine is out of the question. Could this Shadow fellow help us find them?" Rarity asked.

"Shadow is more attuned to Chaos Energy than Soler is, so he should be able to help sense at least the directions that they're in." Knuckles said.

"Well then, if he can help, we should just go and get him. There's no need to still be discussing this." Rainbow said. She was about to get up when Twilight stopped her.

"Wait, Rainbow. Even though we know that this Shadow can help, we have to worry about that Eggman in case he shows up." She said. Rainbow sat back down in her seat annoyed.

"So what do you suggest we do about him then?" Rainbow asked. Twilight didn't know how to respond so she looked to Tails and Knuckles for help.

"Tails, Knuckles?" She asked. Tails spoke up.

"Well I've been fighting Eggman almost as long as Sonic has, so I have a basic idea of his patterns." He started, "Eggman is always trying to conquer the world, whether or not if it's our world. If the Chaos Emeralds are involved, then his first step would be to find them before we do. He'll probably try and get a foothold here too by threatening a major city here to draw out the ruler, which is Celestia." He said.

"And Luna." Pinkie chimed in. Tails looked confused.

"Luna? Who is that?"

"Oh, well she's just the Princess of the Night. The same Princess that tried to put all of Equestria in eternal darkness, so Celestia had to banish her to the moon for a really really really long time. That is, until she came back as Nightmare Moon and tried to take over again, but we all stopped her with the Magic of Friendship, so now she's back-to-normal Luna." Pinkie finished and smiled.

 _Surprised to know that there's another ruler of Equestria_ , Tails thought, _And how did she say all of that in one breath?_

"How did you–? Never mind." He said.

"So it seems like this Eggman will be after the Emeralds and possibly try to attack one of the major cities in Equestria." Twilight said, "This could leave us split up and our strength separated." The group pondered on the situation at hand, trying their best to figure out what to do. Sonic and Soler neared the end of their argument.

"Okay, let's just agree to disagree that I totally could eat 50 chill dogs faster than you." Sonic said. Soler was about to say something him but stopped.

"Okay, I'll agree to disagree. You do like your chilly dogs. How do you eat so many by the way?" He asked him. Sonic was about the reply, but then noticed that everyone had gotten quiet, and they looked like they were in deep thought.

"What are you guys thinking about so hard?" Soler said, breaking them from their thoughts.

"Well, while you and blue were arguing like kids, the adults were trying to figure out what we're going to do next." Rainbow said. Sonic looked at Soler.

"What's with everyone calling us kids?"

"I don't know man. It's weird." He said back.

"We don't know if we should go and just get Shadow, or try to split of our forces so that we can be prepared if Eggman shows up." Tails said to them. The two hedgehogs looked at each other and smiled.

"Well isn't it obvious? We go and get Shadow." Sonic said.

"I mean come on Tails, I can't believe that you didn't know that." Soler added on. The group looked at the two with puzzled expressions.

"I beg your pardon, but we can't just go on a whim to find your friend and leave this place unprotected." Rarity said.

"We'll be back soon." Sonic said, relaxed as ever.

"Well what do ya think we should do about the other cities?" Applejack asked them.

"Just send a letter to Celestia telling her to be on high alert, and to have guards ready." Soler said just as coolly as Sonic.

"You two know that those guards might not be able to handle Eggman's forces as well as we can." Knuckles said next.

"They'll be fine. We'll just show up and help out once the fighting breaks out. Plus, this is all under the assumption that Eggman is here." Soler said. Twilight spoke up.

"Well that is true, but still…"

"But nothing! Let's just go already and worry about the rest once it pops up." Sonic said to cut her off. He turned to walk out the door.

"If we stay worrying about the future like this, then we won't be able to get things done in the present. I know the threat of Eggman is worrying, but I made a promise that I won't let him succeed." He started, then turned and gave them his classic smile and thumbs up, "And I don't break my promises." Soler looked at the others and could see that their faces went from concern to having a sort of courage that whatever happens in the future they can handle it. Soler smirked and looked back at Sonic.

 _You did it again hedgehog. You gave them the courage and strength to walk forward even_ _though_ _their_ _path isn't clear. No wonder you're the_ _H_ _ero of Mobius._ Soler thought to himself.

"Come on guys, Sonic is right for once. We can't just sit around here, let's get going to Manehattan. We'll worry about Eggman once, if, he shows up." Soler said and walked up next to Sonic. The others looked confident and stood up.

"He's right. I'll send a letter to Celestia before we leave and head off to the station." Twilight said. When Sonic heard the word station, he immediately started to sweat bullets.

"Well, uh, maybe it isn't that big of a rush to get there." He said. Soler rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, blue, I'm sure Rainbow will hold your hand the whole ride there." He said slyly. Sonic and Rainbow both blushed.

"You don't have to say it like that." Sonic said.

"Yeah, it's not like he's my boyfriend or anything." She shouted at Soler too.

"For now," Soler said as he walked out of the castle. They looked at each other and blushed harder, then looked away. Everyone laughed at the two in their embarrassment.

 **(P.O.V. ?** **Twilight's** **Castle)**

He watched as Soler walked out of the castle and stretched, staying out of his sight. "Hedgehog found." He said with a voice tinged subtly metallic, "I will finished what I started those years ago. Your life is mine, hedgehog. I will take it just like how I took her life from you." The being watched as Soler sat down and opened up a letter. He could see how reading the letter made him flustered. This made the being curious.

"So you've found yourself someone new." His laugh was cold and mechanical, "Foolish hedgehog. I will take their life from you before yours so you'll remember that feeling of utter despair as you leave this world." He watched as the Sonic and his friends followed by a bunch of ponies came out the castle.

"Enjoy your time for now and enjoy it while you can." He started as he pulled out a Chaos Emerald, "It will be your last." He said as he teleported away.

 **(P.O.V.** **N** **one,** **Manehattan** **Station)**

The group walked off the train.

"Man, why do those train rides take so long?" Soler asked with a stretch. The rest of the group followed.

"Well we're sorry that our trains can't go as fast you can dearie. We like to take our time going from place to place." Rarity said. Soler rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but still, it took us two days on that train to get here." He said when he noticed Sonic hadn't walked off the train yet.

"Where's Sonic?" He asked. The others realized that he wasn't there as well. Rainbow sighed.

"Wait one sec." She said, and flew back onto the train. A moment or so passed and they could hear footsteps coming off the train. Rainbow was holding Sonic's hand as she was guiding him off the train. He looked gray, as if all of his charisma and moxie had been taken out of him.

"Come on blue, just a few more steps and we're off the train." Rainbow said trying to soothe him.

"Two days… Two days on that train… No running, no jumping, no climbing… No anything for two straight days." He said in a distant voice.

"The poor dearie, that train really does just take everything out of him." Rarity said.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like even one of Pinkie's homemade pies could snap him out if it." Twilight said. Sonic let go of Rainbow's hand and curled up on the ground.

"Two days." He repeated over and over again. Everyone felt sorry him, all except for Soler, who was trying his best not to burst out laughing. Sonic noticed this and seemingly all the life came back into him as fury, and he got right into Soler's face.

"I don't see what's so funny, hedgehog. You were on that train ride too!" He shouted. Soler was doing his best to keep it together as he answered.

"Yeah I was but..." He snickered, "I'm not the one who came off the train looking like someone had sucked all the life out of me and chanting 'Two… Days'!" He finished as he burst into uncontrollable laughter. Sonic steamed as he looked at Soler rolling around on the floor. Sonic was about to shout at him, but then began to think about it and how that he must've looked. The more he imagined it, the funnier it seemed, and he started to chuckle and even started to laugh. Soler stopped laughing for a moment to see him also laughing.

"See? It's pretty funny." He said. Sonic stopped laughing almost instantly and went back to serious.

"I'll admit that it was a little funny." He said. Soler stood back up and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Oh come on, lighten up blue, at least we're off the train." Sonic thought on it and smiled.

"Yeah, we are off the train." Sonic said smiling.

"Now if you two are done with your little bro moment, let's get on with finding your friend." Rainbow said, flying past them with the others.

Manehattan had to be, by far, the biggest city they have seen so far in this world. And it had to be most crowded too. There were skyscrapers that looked like they touched the sky, and there were ponies everywhere, just hustling and bustling around. It was hard to not bump into anyone and Soler, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were constantly apologizing to ponies. While the boys were having a rough time trying to walk through the crowd, the girls were walking through just fine, being that it wasn't their first time in the city.

"Oh, don't you just love the city?" Rarity said in an awed voice.

"Rarity, you say that every time we come here." Applejack said.

"Well darling, I'm sorry for showing my enthusiasm but this is simply the most exquisite city in all of Equestria." She said dreamily. AJ rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm sorry to stop your lovely conversation." Knuckles started, only to stop and apologize to another pony.

"But is there a more, open, place for us to start our search? Like a park or something?" He asked. Sonic noticed that Tails hasn't decided to fly to avoid the crowd.

"Why aren't you flying little buddy?" He asked. Tails had to pardon himself for bumping into yet another pony before responding.

"Well I would, but I don't have enough space to propel my tails." He explained. The group made their way to Central Park to break and plan their next step. The park was quite beautiful, there were still ponies around, but there was a lot more space for everyone. From the part of the park they were in, there were ponies having picnics and fillies playing around, enjoying the weather.

"Man this park sure is beautiful. And big." Sonic said. Twilight nodded.

"Yeah. It's takes up the middle of the city so that it's in a place where every pony can go to. And now that we have space let's plan our next move in finding Shadow." She said. They found a place to sit and started to discuss what to do, "Okay so obviously this city is huge. We're gonna have to split up in pairs." Twilight said. Everyone agreed.

"Okay, but what are the pairs?" Rainbow asked. That's when Sonic stood up.

"Well, the pairs will be; Soler and I, Tails and Knuckles, Twilight and Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow, and lastly, Rarity and Applejack." He said proudly. Everyone looked at him blankly, then turned their attention back to Twilight to hear the real pairs. Sonic felt utterly defeated.

"Oh come on! My pairs were logical. Right, Soler?" Sonic looked to Soler for confirmation but was knocked down again, seeing that he was reading a letter he had gotten with a smile on his face.

"Soler!" Sonic shouted, snapping Soler out of his letter.

"What's up, Sonic? You say something?" He asked.

"Yeah, don't you agree with my pairs?" He asked. Soler looked confused.

"Twilight's probably going to handle pairing us up. Don't worry, just leave it to her." He said back with a smile and went back to his letter. With Sonic's pride clearly injured, he just sat back down and listened to the Twilight's pairings.

"Okay so the guys have never been to this city, so one of us will have to go with them to search with them." She started, "So I'll start off by going with Soler."

"Wait, how do you just get to pair yourself up with him?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I'll ask him how he feels about it." Twi started, "Soler, how do you feel with being paired up with me?" He was busy in his letter and wasn't paying attention. "Soler!" she shouted.

"Yeah Twi?" He responded half-heartedly.

"How do you feel about us being paired together?" She asked again.

"Yeah, sounds cool to me." He said without looking up from the letter. She smiled.

"See, he doesn't mind." She gloated, Rainbow just rolled her eyes.

"Okay so who wants to go with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles?" Twilight asked. At first, none of them spoke up, until Fluttershy gave her answer.

"I'll go with Tails, if that's okay with him." She said. He simply nodded and smiled.

"It would be my pleasure." Then Applejack spoke up.

"I'll go with Knuckles. He seems like he's already ticked off, so I might as well be there to try and keep'em calm." She said. Knuckles didn't argue, if anything, he looked more relieved that she was paired with him than anything.

"Well that leaves Sonic. Girls?" Twilight said.

"Oh! I'll go with Sonic. It'd be loads of fun." Pinkie said, when Rainbow said something.

"Well I guess I'll go with blue boy. I just hope he can keep up with me is all." Upon hearing that, Sonic perked up and got in her face,

"What do you mean keep up? I can run circles around you!" He retorted. Rainbow stared back at him.

"As if, blue. I could outrace you with my eyes closed, ten seconds flat." She said.

"Is that a challenge?" He said as his eye twitched.

"What if it is? Whatcha gonna do about it?" She said with their faces just inches apart. Soler looked up from his letter for a second at the scene.

"Just kiss her already." He said with a smirk. The two blushed madly. realizing how close they were to each other and backed away. The group laughed.

"Well that leaves me with Pinkie then." Rarity said.

"Okay guys, let's split up and see if we can find any information on where he could be and meet back here by nightfall, okay?" Twilight said. Everyone agreed, then each pair went off in a different direction, except for Pinkie who was still sitting there.

"But I wanted to go with Sonic!" She whined. Rarity stopped and called for her.

"Pinkie darling, let's go/ I was planning on stopping by the location of my new boutique, and maybe we can get some ice cream on the way?" She said. Pinke brightened back up and bounced over to her.

"Okie dokie pokie loki." She said as the two went off their way.

 **(P.O.V. Soler and Twilight)**

The two had made their way away from the park and towards a hotel, a very nice hotel. Soler whistled when they stepped into the main lobby. It looked bigger on the inside, like most of the big buildings in this world. The floor was covered with a red carpet that had gold stitching designs spiraling all over it. The parts that weren't covered with carpet were a white marble that looked polished to perfection. Soler could even see his reflection in it. The lobby was a pretty huge, with the walls also made of marble and covered with beautiful paintings. Soler and Twilight made their way to the front desk and ringed the bell for service.

"Uh Twilight, not that I don't like this place, but I don't think Shadow would be here. Too many ponies and too bright." Soler said to her. She giggled.

"Oh. I know he wouldn't be here, I just figured that we might be here for a while and would need some rooms to stay in." She responded. Soler nodded.

"Makes sense. I mean, Shadow can be a slippery one." He added. Just then the attendant came to the counter.

"Welcome to our hotel. How may I.." He stopped and saw that it was Twilight and his whole attitude changed.

"Oh! Well I wasn't expecting a royal to be coming to this hotel. How may I help you Princess Twilight." He said bowing politely. Soler looked at Twilight.

"Princess?" He questioned. She starched the back of her head.

"I'll explain later." She said and turned her attention to the attendant.

"I would like a few rooms ready for my friends and I. We might be staying in the city a night." She said. He brightened up.

"Well it would be an honor if you and your friends stayed here. We'll get some of our suites ready for you guys, free of charge." He said. This caught Soler by surprise.

"Whoa! Free of charge! Do we get room service free too?" He asked.

"Well of course sir, anything for our newly appointed Princess." He said and left to get the rooms ready. Soler noticed that Twilight was blushing a bit.

"What's wrong Twilight?" He asked her. She was looking down embarrassed.

"Well… It still feels a little weird to be treated like royalty, especially since I was only just recently made into a Princess." She said. Soler put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Look Twi, I know it can feel weird to be treated differently because you got appointed to a new status, but don't let it get to your head, which I know you won't, and just keep in mind why it is you became a Princess. Okay?" He said. She was blushing madly since his face was close to her and she was looking into his eyes.

"Yeah. I won't forget." She said. Soler smiled and backed up.

"Glad to hear it. Now let's go and search for Shadow, you can tell me how and what you're a Princess of later." He said as he led them out of the hotel. It was still busy outside and it was midday already. He sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him." Twilight said, "I'll go call a cab." She went of to hail down a cab. Soler watched her franticly try and hail one down and smiled. He then felt a tingle down his neck like someone was watching him. He looked up towards a nearby building to see no one there.

 _Must be imagining things._ He figured in his head. He turned and went to help to help Twi hail a cab. Little did he know that he wasn't imagining it. That someone was watching him.

 **(P.O.V. Sonic and Rainbow)**

The two were going through the crowd looking for any sign of Shadow. Rainbow was flying, avoiding most of the crowd. Meanwhile, Sonic was maneuvering around ponies, getting used to how everyone moved in the city. He looked up at Rainbow, who was a little ahead of him, and he was looking at her Cutie Mark. Rainbow felt him staring and turned around to him,

"Are you enjoying the view?" She asked slyly. He blushed a bit and shook his head.

"It wasn't like that. I was just wondering how you guys get those Cutie Marks on your flanks. I see that everyone has a different one, so they must be special or something." He said. She laughed a bit.

"Well you know you could just ask me how I got it instead of just staring at my flank all day. Unless you're into that stuff, that is." She teased. He blushed even harder.

"Well, if you slow down, I would like to hear how you got it. And no, I'm not some closet perv or anything." He said. She laughed and slowed down to tell him the story of how she got her Cutie Mark. When she finished, Sonic was impressed to hear she saved Fluttershy as a kid and that her Rainboom united all of her friends together.

'That's kind of cool RD, how your one Rainboom united all of your friends, and got them their Cutie Marks too." He told her. She smirked.

"Yeah I know. If you hadn't noticed, I'm kinda awesome! So that's all in a day's work for someone like me." She said boastfully. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Well Miss Awesome, could you fly up and see if you see any sign of Shadow." She flew up and scanned the dozens of ponies.

"You would think a black hedgehog would be easy to see." She said to herself as she flew back down.

"Anything?" Sonic asked RD. She shook her head.

"Nothing." Sonic sighed.

"Well, I should've expected Shadow to be hard to find." He said.

"How did you meet this Shadow guy by the way?" RD asked him.

"Well that's a long story." Sonic said.

"Well it's about lunch time. So lets break for lunch and you can tell me the story." She said. Sonic reluctantly agreed, and the two found an outside bistro to eat at. The two found some seat outside and waited for a server. Sonic looked at the menu.

"You guys don't eat anything that has meat in it?" He asked RD. She shook her head.

"Nope we're all herbivores, so we eat anything that isn't meat-related." She responded. Sonic sighed.

"Well at least you guys have pasta. I guess I'll order that." The waiter came and the two placed in their orders and waited for the server to return.

"So now tell me the story of how you and Shadow met." Rainbow said. Sonic told her the story of how he and Shadow met (SA2), midway through the story, the server came back with there food.

"So Shadow was created by Eggman's grandfather, who was trying to get revenge on the world?" She asked very into the story. Sonic took a bite of his food and nodded.

"Yeah. It's crazy, but he created life and that's not even the end of it." He said as he continued the story, ending on how he and Shadow stopped the Ark from falling onto the planet. They had finished their food and Rainbow was in awe at his adventure.

"Man, your adventures sound so awesome!" She said. Sonic smirked and drank the last of his juice.

"Yeah they're pretty cool, but extremely difficult at the same time." he said.

"Do you have any other adventures you could tell me about? They sound so cool." She asked him.

"Well sure I do, but we should really get back to searching for Shadow." Sonic said.

"Awe come on blue, another story wouldn't hurt anything, and besides, you get to spend more alone time with this awesome pegasus in front of you." She said. He laughed a bit.

"Well, I could tell you about the time I went into a book and fought a king." He said. That caught her full attention.

"You went inside a book and fought a king?"

The two spent the rest of the afternoon talking, Sonic telling RD stories of his adventures.

 **(P.O.V. Tails and Fluttershy)**

Tails and Fluttershy had been walking around the city for quite sometime and still had found no trace of Shadow anywhere.

"Man Shadow, why do you have to be so hard to find?" Tails whined exhaustedly. Fluttershy took notice to Tails since they had gone to get him and had wanted to ask him some questions but ever since they were paired up, she had been too nervous to say a complete sentence around him. The whole time the two had been looking, it had been mostly him talking, pointing things out, or just saying things he noticed and she was only giving simple one or two word replies.

 _Come on Fluttershy, this is your chance to ask him some questions and maybe get to know him better, stop being shy and talk._ She thought to herself. She looked up at him and noticed how his eyes always looked like they were calculating or seeking an answer, trying to find another puzzle to solve. His blue eyes seemed to always mesmerize her even when he wasn't looking at her. The help he gave her the past few days with her animals and just things around her cottage made her see Tails differently. Even when she told him that he didn't need to help her, he insisted that he would rather be helping. She's only spent a little time with him but she has grown so fond of him and his company. The two had been walking for quite some time and were getting tired of all the constant walking.

"Hey Fluttershy, you know any place that we can rest for a while?" Tails asked. This caught her by surprise.

"Wha… um…" She stuttered. He looked at her and saw how flustered she was.

"Is everything alright, Flutters?" He asked. She looked into his eyes, which only caused her to get more flustered and she started to blush.

"I… I… um…" She stuttered again. Tails dimpled.

"What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" He joked.

 _More like fox got my tongue._ She thought to herself. His stare wasn't wavering, which didn't help her stop stuttering. She needed a distraction, and fast. As if on cue, they heard a commotion not far from where they were.

"I wonder what's going on." Tails said, "Come on let's see what's going on." He said and took her hoof. When he took her hoof her face turned completely red.

 _Oh my Celestia, he's holding my hoof._ She thought to herself. The two made it to the commotion and found that there was a sort of street parade going on. Seeing the performers made it feel like as if all of Fluttershy's nervousness disappeared, in awe of the performers. There were ponies dressed in very colorful clothes and makeup on very big and bright floats doing different tricks and moves to the music.

"Wow, I wonder what makes these guys to out on a performance." Tails said in awe. The sun was starting to set, causing everyone to think that the performances were going to stop, but instead the group just turned on lights that were on the floats and attached to their clothes. This created the most beautiful light show they had ever seen. Fluttershy looked at Tails and could see the pure enjoyment in his face as he watched the floats go by. The lights from the floats seemed to make his eyes glisten, and caused her to blush a little. She looked at his hand and realized that he was still holding her hoof.

 **(P.O.V. Knuckles and Applejack)**

Knuckles and Applejack had made their way to a food market in search of Shadow.

"Something tells me that Shadow won't be here." Knuckles said. Applejack just looked at him.

"Well I reckon we might as well take a look around. It won't do no harm." She said. Knuckles just nodded and the two made their way through the market. The marketplace was packed with ponies going from place to place, trying to buy and sell food. They could hear business stallions and mares giving their best sales pitches to get customers. The smells that the place was giving off were wonderful to the senses. Knuckles couldn't help but keep his nose in the air to take in all the smells. AJ noticed this and grinned.

"I reckon you haven't smelt anything like this before?" She said. He stopped smelling the air and looked at her.

"Well, we don't have many open marketplaces back in our world. Plus, I don't tend to get out much." He said the last part kind of low. Applejack took notice to that last part.

"What was that last part, partner?" She asked. Knuckles looked at her.

"It's nothing. Let's just keep moving." He said while starting to move through the market. The two had made their way towards the docks of the island. Knuckles was taking in the sights of the island, the beauty of seeing their monument standing proudly across the sea. He closed his eyes to take in the sea air as it blew with the wind. AJ saw how much he was enjoying the view and air.

"So I reckon you've also never been this close to the sea?" She asked him. He opened his eyes and looked out to the sea.

"No. I don't get to see things like this often." He said. His voice almost sounded a bit saddened, Applejack could look at his eyes and see the hidden sadness behind them.

 _Why wouldn't he have never gotten to see these things back in his own world? Best not ask about it yet though._ She thought.

"Well then, since you don't get to see these things in your world, how about I show you some sights in my world, Knux." She offered. He looked at her.

"What about finding Shadow?" He said. AJ waved her hoof.

"Oh, we'll keep a lookout for'im while we're out." She responded. Knuckles thought about it and agreed.

"Well, knowing Shadow, if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found, even by us." He said. Applejack took Knuckles from sight to sight as she enjoyed seeing his face brighten up from each place she took him. Eventually the two sat on a bench as dusk neared. It was just about time to head back.

"Man going all the way up that statue was amazing, and then going to that petting zoo was relaxing. I'm glad you took me to those places, AJ." He said to her with a smile. She smiled back.

"Well I'm glad I got to see all those sights with ya, partner." She replied. Knuckles smiled and then closed his eyes.

"Man. It sucks that we didn't find Shadow, but at least I got to spend the day with you." He said. Applejack blushed a bit from his remark, only to then remember something from earlier.

"Hey Knuckles, mind if I ask why you don't get out much in your world?" She asked him. He didn't open his eyes but sighed.

"Well, if you must know I'm the last protector of this gem called the Master Emerald on this floating island called Angel Island." He said. Applejack was amazed to hear of a floating island.

"Well why do you have to stay protecting that there Master Emerald? Can't ya have someone else watch over it for ya?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Well, before I got teleported to this world, I made sure that a group of my friends are watching it. But on a daily basis, it's my duty to protect it. They all have things they do that keep them from staying on the island, plus I wouldn't want to have them hold that burden when it's mine to keep." He answered looking at his shoes. AJ could tell that this task he had took up all of his normal time, which kinda made her feel bad for him. Knuckles chuckled.

"See I don't want you to feel sorry for me. This is the path that was set before me, and I accept it." He said, turning his gaze on her. He could see in her eyes that even though she was sad to hear he didn't get a lot of personal time, she at least understood that he had a job to do. The two were looking in each other's eyes for what seemed like hours, neither able to look away.

 _What is it about her eyes that just seems to keep me calm_ _?_ He wondered.

 _What is it about his eyes that seem to make me want to learn more about him._ She pondered. The two didn't realize it, but they were slowly moving closer and closer to each other, until…

"Knuckles, come in!" They heard his communicator go off. The two snapped back into reality and moved away from each other, blushing.

"Yeah I'm here." He said.

"Knuckles, get back to the park as soon as possible. We have a major problem!" They heard Sonic shout, followed by a series of explosions and the radio going silent. Knuckles looked at Applejack, then the two started running as fast as they could back to the park.

 **(P.O.V.** **N** **one, Central Park)**

It was getting dark and all the pairs had to make their way back to the park. Sonic and Rainbow were the first to make it back to the park, waiting for the others to get there.

"Man, I wonder how the others could be such slo pokes." Rainbow said as she sat next to Sonic on the bench.

"Yeah I mean, we all had a set time to meet back here and we're the only ones here." Sonic said. Just then his ears perked up and he jumped from the bench into a fighting stance. Rainbow got up, wondering what's going on.

"Sonic, what's the…" Sonic cut her off.

"Get behind mem RD." His voice was serious. She got nervous from his sudden tone change and got behind him. He looked at a darker figure in front of them.

"Okay, show yourself!" He demanded. At first, there was no motion, until they heard a rustling and a pair of red eyes could be seen from the darkness looking at them.

"Shadow man, you almost gave he a heart attack. You know even though you're good at being secretive, you don't have to be that secretive." Sonic said as he un-tensed himself. The pair of eyes didn't move or blink as it stared right at Sonic and RD. Rainbow saw the eyes and they were making her feel uneasy.

"Sonic, are you sure that's your friend? Something about those eyes makes me feel sick." She said, as she slightly got more behind him. Sonic chuckled,

"That's just Shadow, he tends to act this way." Sonic said he looked back at the eyes. "Come on out, Shadow, and stop playing around." He said jokingly. The pair of eyes started to move towards them, when a voice colder than ice spoke.

"You should have listened to her, hedgehog." Sonic's eyes widened as he got back into his stance, ready for anything,

"What are you doing here?" He responded.

"Oh, what does it matter how I got here? You should worry more about if you're going to survive." The being chuckled as it moved out into the light. Once in the full light Rainbow could look and see that it was some robot that looks surprisingly a lot like Sonic. Sonic squinted his eyes,

"Neo, why are you here?" He repeated. Neo-Metal Sonic laughed coldly.

"Why else would I be here? To terminate a certain hedgehog and finish what I started." He said as he charged a shot in his hand, "And you are in my way." He blasted the shot faster than Sonic could move, so the only thing he did was cover Rainbow from the blast. He waited for it to hit, though it never did.

"Hmph. And you're supposed to be my fake when you let your guard down this much. Pathetic." They heard an almost rough voice say. Sonic turned and saw the one hedgehog they were looking for all day. The black hedgehog stood in between Neo and Sonic & RD and he didn't look happy. Sonic smirked,

"Glad to see you finally showed up. Took you long enough." Sonic said. Shadow looked behind at Sonic and smirked. He looked back at Neo and scowled.

"Well Shadow the hedgehog looks like I can get rid of two annoyances at one time." Neo said as he laughed. Shadow's scowl deepened.

"I don't think you're the one who should be making threats now, Neo." He said. Shadow then charged a Chaos Spear in his hand, "You've caused us enough trouble, Neo. It's time to finish you now!" And with that, he launched the spear at Neo, who easily dodged the attack and sent one right back at them. Shadow simply teleported the away.

"Contact the others and tell them to get here, pronto." Shadow said as he teleported back to Neo.

"So you're planning on taking me on by yourself while the others com? You know I only want him, and any who stand in my way are just bugs to be squashed. Including you." He finished darkly. Neo charged two blasts in his hands as he got into a stance. Shadow chuckled.

"I'll show you who's really a bug here." He said as he charged two Chaos Spears in his hands and launched them at Neo. Soler and Twilight were walking back towards the park.

"Man, I can't believe that we couldn't find any trace of Shadow anywhere in the whole city." Soler sighed.

"Yeah, I didn't think a black hedgehog would be that hard to find." Twilight responded with her own sigh. Before Soler could respond, he felt a certain presence nearby and stopped in his tracks. Twilight noticed this and stopped with him.

"What's wrong?" She asked him. He didn't respond, but he started looking around nervously, right when they heard a series of explosions coming from the park. They looked and saw bright flashes of combat going on. Soler tightened a fist.

"Twilight, we need to get to the park, like now. Do you think you can teleport us there?" He asked. She nodded and her horn started to glow. The two popped in from where they were. Shadow and Neo were going toe-to-toe, trading blow-for-blow, neither able to get the upper hand on the other.

 _How is it that he is keeping up with me?_ _E_ _specially since I_ _'ve_ _got a_ _n_ _E_ _merald with me_ _,_ Shadow thought as he threw another series of spears at Neo, who just matched him with his own series of spears. The two stopped mid-combat and stared at each other.

"It seems were at an impasse." Neo said, "That must mean you have a Chaos Emerald too." Shadow's eyes widen when Neo opened his chest to reveal that he had a Chaos Emerald. Shadow gritted his teeth.

"How did you get your hands on one of them!" He demanded. Neo laughed.

"It doesn't matter how I got one. Just know that I will be collecting the rest to destroy you all. But first, I have to get the one you're holding off your corpse." He said, preparing to charge Shadow. Neo took a kick to the face from another character. He re-centered himself and turned to see who he was looking for all this time. His target gave him the best scowl he had ever seen.

"NEO!" Soler shouted. Neo stood up and chuckled.

"Well it's great to see you again, hedgehog." He said. Soler clenched his fists.

"What are you doing here!" He shouted.

"Well why do you think I'm here? To finish what I started a long time ago." Neo retorted. Twilight had been running up with Sonic and RD to see the standoff between Soler and Neo. The look on Soler's face was completely filled with hatred for that thing that looked like Sonic. Soler's scowl only deepened as Neo started to laugh,

"What's so funny?" Soler asked darkly.

"What's funny is that that's the same face you gave me right after I killed that little hedgehog you cared about." Soler's fists tightened and a dark energy could be felt emanating from him. Sonic and Shadow knew what was to come next if he didn't calm down, but the girls were feeling only a new sense of fear with the energy coming off of him. Neo continued, "What was her name again? Neptune, Saturn? I do remember it as being something from space." Soler's anger just grew. It could be seen that his quills was starting to turn dark, and that feeling of fear and despair only grew as Neo kept going.

"Hmm… Oh! I remember, I think her name was Luna. I remember now from that pendant that was around her neck that I took once I saw the last of her life was drained from her eyes." He finished. Neo snapped Soler's last straw, and his white quills turned a sickening black.

"Don't you ever…Ever… Say… Her …NAME!" Soler shouted with a voice that wasn't his own, but one much scarier. He opened his eyes to show that his pupils had gone away and showed nothing but a cold white. "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER SAYING HER NAME!" Soler said in that voice as he charged at Neo.

 _And with chapter 11 done_ _,_ _the start of arc one has begun. Thanks for sticking with me this long, for those who have. From here on the chapters will be longer, like I said in the beginning, so be prepared. My posting of chapters will be slowed down since it will take me awhile to get them done but I promise I won't give up on this story, I love it too much to. So this is Solerwolf OUT! Oh, and I was trying something new with the font change at the end so if you don't like it or can't read it, I apologize, I was feeling creative._


	12. Chapter 12

_Finally, been waiting forever to write_

 _Chapter 12: Manehattan Pt. 2: Control_

 **(P.O.V. None, Central Park)**

Sonic, Shadow, Twilight, and Rainbow stood motionless as they watched the confrontation that was happening in front of them. Twilight looked horrified.

''What…What is that?" She asked in a shaky voice .

"That is Soler, he's let his dark side take over, so the proper name for him now is Dark Soler." Shadow said as he clenched his fist.

 _But how did he lose control so easily?_ He thought to himself. Soler and Neo were clashing head to head, though Neo seemed to more or less be just testing Soler than actually fighting him.

"Did I strike a nerve, hedgehog?" He mocked. Dark Soler growled and charged at Neo at blinding speed. He tried to grab Neo by the throat, but Neo moved out the way just before he could reach. Neo returned the attack with a series of blasts. The attack made contact with Soler and sent him back a few feet. "Don't tell me that's all the power you have? If it is, then it's pathetic, no wonder I was able to kill her so easily." Neo said. As the dust settled from the attack you could see a pair of glowing white eyes staring right at Neo. Once things completely settled, everyone could see that his last attack did no real damage. It only seemed to piss him off more than anything. Dark Soler clenched his fist tighter,

" **You will die!"** He said as he got ready for another attack. As the group watched, they could hear sets of footsteps and hooves running up behind them.

"Sonic, what's going on?" Knuckles asked him. The rest of the group could see that there was a new member to the group.

"So you found your friend? That's great." Pinkie said. They then realized that they weren't even paying attention to them, instead intensely watching something. That's when the girls noticed Twilight and RD's terrified expressions.

"Twi, RD, what's wrong?" Rarity asked, instantly feeling the dark presence as it almost weighed down on everyone's very cores. Applejack's legs started to buckle being taken over by the energy. Knuckles and Tails remembered this feeling and their eyes immediately widened in horror,

"Don't tell me that this is Soler? He couldn't have lost control again. I mean, the only thing that could trigger this is only if Neo was here." Tails said. That's when the group looked at what the others were watching and saw that there was some sort of metal Sonic fighting something. That's when they saw his blank eyes and pitch black quills. Fluttershy could feel tears roll down her eyes, petrified in fear from merely looking into those eyes. The other girls weren't doing any better, Rarity had her hooves over her mouth in shock and fear,

"What is that?" She asked, hardly even audible to the group.

"Come on. We can't just let him stay out of control, we gotta snap him out of it!" Knuckles shouted as he clenched his fists ready to charge but Shadow put his arm in the way to stop him.

"You know as well as I do that getting in the middle of that wouldn't change anything. It would only put more of us in danger of being caught in the crossfire." He said sternly. Knuckles cursed knowing that Shadow was right and just looked on with the others. Neo looked back.

"Well it seems like the gang's all here." He said, before feeling a hand grab the side of his face and slam him into the ground, leaving a small crater. He looked up to see Dark Soler's white eyes blazing at him in rage. This didn't even seem to phase him as he teleported out of Dark Soler's grasp a few feet away, "I almost forgot about you." He quipped. Dark Soler stood from his position and glared at him. Neo didn't look phased from fighting Soler, he looked like he was watching him very closely. Calculating.

 _Subject's data has been copied into memory. Current power level is insufficient to defeat opponent._ Neo's inner computer told him. Neo wasn't pleased with this new information.

"Seems like this Dark form of his is stronger than what one Emerald can handle." He said to himself. Neo tuned back to the battle and noticed that Soler wasn't moving one inch. The others noticed this too, and wondered why he wasn't moving.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, ?)**

"So I'm back here again." Soler said or at least he thinks he said. He was floating in darkness. He couldn't tell if this eyers were really open at all. It was silent, oh so very silent that it was hard for him to think. "Man, I wonder how long I've been here? I seem to lose all track of time when this happens." Soler said as he just floats aimlessly through the darkness.

"It's weird. I don't like it when you come out, but I tend to just let it happen." He said. "I guess it's because I understand how you feel, I want him to pay for taking her away from us too, but this isn't how we should do it." He continued. No response. Total silence. "I know you can hear me, so just please don't hurt our friends." Soler said. The silence returned yet again.

" **He took her away.** " A different voice said. Soler perked his ears, " **He took her away from us… From me. So he shall pay for it, no matter the costs!** " The voice continued. Soler sighed.

"Yeah, I want him to pay as well, but you know that when you come out, you tend to lose control and attack others. We need to be in control to take him out, it's how she would want us to be, not like this." Soler said. Silence,

" **She was our light… And he took it away from us.** " The voice said. Soler could hear the sorrow and pain in the voice, so much that it made him feel more sorry for it than for himself.

"I know she was our light and him taking her away from us wasn't right, but do you think that she would want us to be this way?"

" **She would want us to get revenge for her!** " It shouted. The pain was very clear in its voice. Soler grew only sadder.

"Please just calm quickly so I can take control again. I'm hurting just as much as you, but don't attack our friends." Soler pleaded. It went silent again.

" **He took our light from us and he will pay!** "

 **(P.O.V. none Central Park)**

" **He took our light from us and he will pay!** " Dark Soler shouted. It caught everyone by surprise to hear him say that. But it was the tear that was most unexpecting. Shadow sensed the energy coming off of him and could feel that the dark presence was leaving him. Soler was returning back to normal, but very slowly. Twilight slightly come out of her fear when she saw the tear.

"He's sad." She noted. Neo analyzed him.

"So it seems like you're returning back to your normal state. What a shame." He exhaled. Dark Soler growled and charged at him faster than the first time. Neo didn't have time to move, and instead, met the attack by grabbing his hands with his own. Their hands remained interlocked, both trying to push the other back. Neither was gaining ground. Neo spoke.

"Seems we're in a stalemate." He noticed that Soler stopped pushing, but he was now crushing his hands. Neo tried to get out of his grasp, but it was only getting tighter as sparks started flying from his hands, he also noticed that he was trying to pull his arms from their sockets, slowly being ripped out. Neo looked Soler right in his blank eyes, "So this is your last ditched effort to end me. Very pathetic, hedgehog." He said before tightening his grasp on Soler as his chest started to hum. Everyone could feel that Neo was charging an attack. At the rate, it was going it was going to be a big attack. Dark Soler noticed this all too late as Neo's attack was fully charged.

"Goodbye hedgehog." He said as his chest opened up and a large bright light consumed Dark Soler. Then came a massive explosion and Soler was blasted back a few yards as a beam slammed into him. Everyone unshielded their eyes to look in awe at the damage that attack did. There was a crater around Neo and a newly formed trench running through the park, with a badly injured Soler lying at the end of it.

"Well, it seems that caused some damage to you, and me." Neo said as he looked down to see that both his arms were gone. Dark Soler stood up wobbling, holding both arms. Sparks were flying from the empty sockets, "Well it seems like it's time for me to leave. I've analyzed your power well enough to know that in my current state, I won't be able to beat this form of yours."

"But heed my words, hedgehog. Don't think that by taking my arms, this will stop me. I have gained new power thanks to the Emerald." Just then, Soler noticed that there was a green glow coming from one of his open sockets. Soler made a fast charge at him, but Neo jumped away.

"You see hedgehog, with this Emerald, the nanites in my body can repair my injuries at an accelerated rate now." He said as everyone looked in shock to see that his empty sockets were already being repaired and new arms were being formed. Soler growled at this and was about to attack but stopped and held his chest. "Your time is up for that dark form of yours, which means that I'll be taking my leave." Neo said as he teleported away. Soler was holding his chest as his dark quills were turning back to their normal white, and his emerald eyes came back into view. The injuries that he took could be easily seen in his panting state. There was a brief moment before anyone moved towards him, still afraid of what they saw. Sonic was the first to snap out of it, and ran to him,

"Soler, are you okay?" He asked with concern as he reached him.

"How did you lose control so easily?" Shadow asked while running up to him. Shadow then noticed that there was a blue Chaos Emerald sitting next to him.

 _So that's how._ He thought to himself. Soler hadn't said a word the whole time, electing to look down at the ground.

"He got away." He said quietly. Sonic and Shadow's ears perked.

"What did you say?" Sonic asked. Soler screamed in frustration.

"Ahhhhhh! I let him get away again! Dammit!" Soler screamed in frustration.

"It's okay man, at least your back to normal. That's what really matters right?" Sonic said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Soler shrugged it off and picked up the Emerald.

"He just… Teleported away. I could still track his energy and teleport after him." He said to no one. Sonic looked to Shadow.

"That's idiotic. You're in no condition to induce Chaos Control and you know it." Shadow said. Soler shakily stood back up, holding the Emerald with one hand and his side with the other.

"I don't care. He's not getting away!" He shouted, "Chaos Control!" Soler said as he teleported away. Shadow clenched his fist,

"Dammit! That idiot. He knows he's too weak to be using Chaos Control." He said. Then he looked back at the group of ponies, seeing that their expressions hadn't change. He walked up to them and looked at them sternly, "Look at me." He said they all looked at his red eyes.

"Now breathe." He said. All at once, each of the ponies started to gasp for air as they realized they had been holding their breath. Shadow looked back at Sonic to see him still standing there, "Sonic, this isn't the time to space out, we need to regroup. Now" He said sternly Sonic didn't respond still standing there.

"Sonic!" He shouted, which seemed to snap him out of it.

"Yeah Shadow, I know. We need to head back to the castle. Can you teleport us there?" Sonic asked him. Shadow shook his head,

"I need to be able to see the location in my head to teleport there and I've never been to this castle you're talking about." He responded. Sonic cursed under his breath knowing that the train would take too long. Then, Fluttershy started to wail as all of her emotions caught up with her. Tails saw this and ran over to comfort her. She dug her face into his fur as she continued to cry away. The other girls weren't doing too much better. Applejack had fallen to the ground, her legs no longer able to support her. Rainbow Dash was speechless, unable to even comprehend what had just happened. Rarity silently cried as her makeup ran with from her tears. Pinkie was trying to comfort her, though she herself was still shaking from the events. And Twilight Sparkle had her head down the whole time, as if trying to regain her courage. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw those white eyes, bringing her fear back. Sonic looked to the group and saw how shaken up everything had made them, then at the damage that Neo and Soler had caused.

"How are we going to get back to the castle? These guys are in no condition to get to the train station and Shadow can't use Chaos Control." He said aloud. Shadow walked up and put his hand on Sonic's shoulder,

"Stay calm, you can use Chaos Control to get us back to the castle." He said calmly. Sonic's eyes widened.

"I'm not as in tune with Chaos Energy as you or Soler are. I can't perform Chaos Control." He said. Shadow still looked at him calmly.

"You have before. Remember how back at Space Colony Ark you used it to get back on the colony when Eggman had shot you into space?" Shadow said as he gave him his Emerald, "And that was with a fake Emerald. You can do it again with a real Emerald." He finished. Sonic looked down at the Emerald, then back to his friends. They really didn't look like they were in any condition to travel by train. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Okay, I'll try. Just get everyone around me." He said to Shadow. He smirked and helped get everyone around Sonic. Once Sonic saw that everyone was around him, he closed his eyes and started to focus his energy.

"Remember, just see the place you want to go in your mind." Shadow said. Sonic imagined Twilight's castle.

"Chaos Control!" He shouted as the group teleported out of the city.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

Soler teleported after Neo and ended up in some desert. Once he landed, he held his side tight as his whole body ached terribly from using so much Chaos ENergy.

"Dammit. Where are you Neo? I won't let you get away." He said as he teleported again. Soler wound up in some plains and it was daylight there. He groaned in pain.

"Man, I must've teleported all the way to the other side of the planet." He barely whispered. He then started to cough hard and when he looked down he saw that there was some blood on the ground. He gritted his teeth,

"I can't stop now. Not now." He said and teleported again. This time, Soler ended up on a mountain top covered with snow. He laid flat out on the ground as his body was starting to give up on him. The harsh winds blowed through him on the mountain as snow was blown in his face. He tried looking around for Neo, but his vision had started to become blurry and all he could see was white. He laid in the snow, trying to grasp for air with his burning lungs.

"Dammit. Just one more jump… Just one more jump." He said, as his consciousness began fading, "Chaos Control." He said weakly and teleported away. He landed in a meadow and the moon shined bright. He looked up at the blurry image of the moon.

"Luna…" Was all he said before the pain made him pass out. His dreams weren't any less painful, showing him the night that he lost her. The fire. The death. And those red eyes staring right at him as he took her life. Soler woke up in a cold sweat. He looked around and realized that he wasn't in that meadow, but in a bed. He looked around the room to see that it was a pretty spacious place and had a very strong nighttime vibe to it, the likeness of space and the night sky decorated the room. He looked out the window that was close to the bed to see the moon shining bright. He looked down at his covers and held them tight in anger.

"I let him get away again." He said in anger.

"So you're finally awake." He heard someone say. He looked to see Luna land on the balcony and begin walking towards him. He looked at her. She was expecting him to get flustered. Instead he just turned back to looking down at the sheets. She walked up to the side of the bed and sat down next to him, "What is wrong Soler?" She asked him. He didn't look up at her, feeling too ashamed to to let someone see him like this.

"I failed again. I let him get away." He said. She looked at him with concern.

"What do you mean? Who did you let get away?" She asked him. He still didn't look up at her.

"I let a very bad person get away again. He hurt me in the past and I've been trying to get him ever since, but he just keeps getting away from me." Soler responded. Luna looked at him and could see the sadness in his face, which broke her heart to see.

"Well, I'll do whatever I can to help you find this person who wronged you to bring him to justice." She offered. That seemed to get him to smirk.

"Thanks for the offer Luna, but this is something I have to do on my own. I wouldn't want him to hurt someone else I care about." He said, "It would hurt me to see you get hurt because of me." Luna blushed from his remark. He looked up and grinned.

"Well, it seems like I got you flustered this time, huh?" He said. She smiled and did something he wasn't expecting to happen. She hugged him, which caught him all off guard. He blushed madly.

"What's this for, Princess." He said. She pulled back from the hug smiling.

"Well, you looked like you needed a hug, so I gave you one." She said. He was blushing still but smiled.

"Thanks, Luna." He said. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a brief while.

"So how long have I been out?" Soler asked breaking the silence. She thought about the question.

"Well, you have been asleep for at least three days." She responded. This didn't take him by too much surprise.

"I was honestly expecting longer." He said jokingly. She raised an eyebrow.

"Really? If I may ask, what is it that caused you to get so injured when I found you?" She asked. Soler recalled the events that happened. Most of it was clear up until he transformed. That's when things got blurry.

"Well, let's just say that I got into a big fight that was a little more than I could handle." He responded. She looked at him in curiosity but decided to let the topic go.

"Well, you should know that your injuries have been healing well." She told him. He took off the covers to see that his body was wrapped and bandaged up. He touched his sides and winced in pain.

"Man, I guessed I got messed up more than I thought." Soler joked. Luna didn't have a joking expression, but one of concern,

"I don't think that this is a joking matter. You were really in a bad state when I found you." She said. Soler could hear the concern and worry in her voice.

"I promise you, this type of thing happened all the time back in my world. No need to worry your pretty little head on it." He said, she was going to say something else but he cut her off, "Luna, I promise you I'll be okay." She thought on it and looked in his eyes for reassurance/

"Okay, but promise me you won't get this hurt again, okay? Can't die either." She said. This caught him by surprise but he smiled sweetly at her,

"I promise you, I won't die." He responded. She smiled at him.

"Thank you." The two went back to their comfortable silence.

"Whelp, I guess it's time for me to get back to the others. I'm sure they're freaking out because of my absence. You know how they can get lost without me." Soler said as he started to get out of bed. Once he got out of the bed, he winced in pain from the sudden movement. He struggled a little to get his shoes on. Luna took notice of his struggle and frowned.

"You shouldn't be moving too much, you're not fully healed yet." She tried to protest. He just smiled and stood up slowly.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He then noticed that the blue Emerald he had was laying on a stand close by. He walked over to it slowly and picked it up. He held the Emerald as he focused back in on its power. "Well, even though it's the middle of the night, I'll be off." He said. He looked back to Luna's concerned face and winked.

"Don't worry." He said as he teleported out of the room. Luna sat there for a little while longer as she watched the moonshine bright, thinking about that hedgehog.

 **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**

Sonic awoke in his bed to the morning sun shining brightly. He sighed, remembering that it's been four days since their encounter with Neo, and Soler was still missing. Shadow had tried to focus in on his energy, but it was hard to since he was so low on energy to begin with. He looked out the window, which pointed towards Ponyville and thought about the past few days and how frantic they had been.

Once Sonic had gotten everyone back to Ponyville, the girls were very shaken up from the events that occurred. Poor Fluttershy was still crying when he got them home and Tails had to take her home since she refused to not be near him. Knuckles had to carry Applejack home as well since she could barely move. Pinkie cared for Rarity as she was recovering. Rainbow tried to play it off as if what happened didn't bother her, but after everyone went to bed, she flew to Sonic's window asking if she could stay with him. Twilight seemed to handle it a little better than the others. Maybe she was just good at covering it up. He couldn't tell, since she had a good poker face.

Sonic stretched and got his shoes on as he got out of bed. He walked out of his room and down the hall to the kitchen. He was surprised to see Shadow sitting at the table, reading a book from Twilight's huge library.

"Morning, Shadow." He said. Shadow looked up at him and nodded his head as he went back into his book. As Sonic was pouring himself a bowl of cereal, he read the cover of the book Shadow was reading. It read, _History of Equestria: Volume 3_. Sonic sat down in front of him, "So you're into history, huh?"

"Well, I would like to know the complete history of this place since we don't know how long we'll be here." Shadow responded without looking up. Sonic rolled his eyes and went back to his cereal. Just then, Twilight and Spike walked into the room and saw the two hedgehogs sitting there,

"Good morning, Sonic, Shadow." She said. The two looked up at her.

"Morning." They said in unison. Spike was still groggy, so he didn't say anything. He waved at them and got out a bowl of gems to eat. Twilight sat and started to eat herself a bowl of cereal too. She then noticed the book Shadow was reading.

" _History of Equestria_? You like to read about history?" She asked him. He looked up from his book at her.

"Well I want to learn more about this place while I'm here, since this is a different culture." He responded. Her eyes seemed to brighten up when she heard the word _learn_.

"Well, if you want to learn more about Equestria, I'll be more than happy to show you my library and all it has on Equestria." She offered. Shadow nodded his head.

"I'd be more than happy to learn from your library." He responded.

"Egg-heads." Sonic said as he was chewing his cereal. The two sent him glares. He sank in his seat from the glares. The group left the kitchen and went to the map room to see if Shadow could sense Soler's energy.

Once the group entered the room they were surprised to see that the very person they were looking for was looking intently at the map. The group froze in their tracks looking at him. Soler could feel eyes on him and turned around to look at the group. He smiled at them.

"Morning guys. Sleep well?" Soler asked. None of them responded but just sat there with blank looks. Soler laughed, "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" That's when Sonic snapped out of it and clenched his fist as he stomped up to Soler.

"What's wrong, man? What's with the mad face? Missed me that much?" Soler joked. Sonic got up to Soler, and slugged him across the face so hard that he fell to the ground. Soler rubbed his jaw. Sonic angrily looked down at Soler, then grabbed him and brought him close to his face.

"What is your problem? Don't you know how dangerous it is to let him out? He could've ended up hurting our friends, or worse!" Sonic shouted. Soler's face was blank and he didn't respond back. This only made Sonic angrier, "What do you have to say for yourself, Soler?" Soler's face didn't change its expression, but he responded.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. Sonic looked at him.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you." He shouted. Soler got angry and looked right into his eyes.

"I said that I'm sorry! I know how dangerous he is, and I didn't even want him to come out. He just did. So I don't need you to tell me how dangerous he is when he's apart of me, okay!" He shouted. Soler and Sonic stared at each other with angry glares. Twilight was about to try and defuse them but Shadow stopped her. The two hedgehogs just looked at each other for a while longer, then out of nowhere, they started to giggle, which then turned into full blown laughter. Twilight looked at the sight in bewilderment as Shadow smirked.

"This is how these two work. I don't try to understand it, I just learn to accept it." Shadow said to her. She just looked at them in awe of how they deal with their drama. The two got up from their laughter and fist bumped.

"Okay then, but really, I'm just glad you're back man. And that you're safe." Sonic said.

"Yeah, glad to be back." Soler responded. That's when the others walked up to them and noticed how bandaged up he was.

"Who bandaged you up?" Twilight asked. Soler looked down at his wrappings.

"Oh. Well, I guess Luna found me last night when I passed out and she took care of me for the past few days." He responded. Shadow raised an eyebrow,

"The Princess of the Night? I thought she was still on the moon?" He asked. Twilight giggled.

"Well she was for a long time, but she's been back for quite some time now. If you read one of the later volumes of that book series, it'll tell you the whole story there." She told him. He nodded.

"Okay then. Now that we've gotten the pleasantries out the way, let's get down to business, we have a mission." He said sternly. Everyone seemed to straighten up.

"Yeah, you're right. We have to find the Emeralds before Neo can and stop him." Soler said. Twilight nodded.

"But first, we need to gather up the others. Sonic, can you go and get them for me?" She asked him. Sonic nodded in reply and took off to get the others. As he left the room, Starlight Glimmer walked into the room, noticing the others there.

"Princess Twilight, I'm back from my friendship lesson and it was a success." She reported. Twilight looked back at her and smiled.

"That's great to hear, Starlight. I'm so proud that you have been proficient with your studies and lessons." She said to her. Starlight blushed from the praise.

"Well, it's all thanks to you and your friends showing me kindness and giving me a chance to learn the Magic of Friendship." Starlight said when she noticed the new hedgehog in the room, looking intently at the map. Starlight walked up to Twilight and whispered to her, "Who is he? He looks intense." She asked. Twilight nodded.

"Well that's Shadow the Hedgehog. He's one of Sonic's friends that we went to look for in Manehattan. He does keep a serious attitude, but I'm sure that once we get to know him, he'll be more open." She answered in whisper. Starlight looked at Shadow and how he seemed almost like the polar opposite of Sonic. Shadow felt her staring at him and looked at her, she froze up when his crimson eyes came into contact with hers. He didn't seem to hold any vice in his stare, just one of curiosity. He turned back to map and to what he was doing, to which Starlight let out the breath she was holding. Soler noticed this and walked up to her.

"Don't worry, once you get to know him, he's as friendly as a kitten. Isn't that right, Shadow?" Soler said as he put an arm around Shadow. Shadow just looked at him with a stare that he knew all too well. Twilight and Starlight could feel the intensity from Shadow but Soler seemed to not be bothered by it at all. The two looked at each other for another moment then Soler patted his shoulder, "Yeah, like a kitten." He added before walking back to his side of the map.

They soon heard a series of footsteps and hooves coming from the hall as the rest of the group entered the room to see Soler there bandaged up. He looked up at them and smiled.

"Sup guys!" He said. Knuckles looked as if he was going to start yelling at Soler, but Sonic put a hand on his shoulder,

"Don't worry, I already gave him a good slug to the jaw before you came. So he's been punished enough." Sonic told him. Knuckles sighed.

"Well, for now, at least." He said. Tails walked up Soler and hugged him.

"Glad to see you're back." Tails said. Soler hugged him back and shuffled up his hair.

"Glad to be back little bro." He said. That's when Soler looked at Fluttershy then back at Tails, and got close to his ear, "So a little birdie told me that while I was gone, you stayed with Fluttershy and kept her company, huh?" He asked mischievously. Tails blushed from the question.

"It's not like that, she needed someone to comfort her, ya know." Tails said with a hint of embarrassment. Soler just laughed.

"It's okay, Tails you don't have to be embarrassed. I completely understand." Soler responded, which didn't lessen Tails blush. The rest of the group walked up to the map as well, but the girls weren't too enthusiastic about getting close to Soler. Soler could feel the uncertainty in their movements and how they seemed to look at him differently. Soler sighed.

"Okay guys, I can tell that you girls are afraid of me because of what happened in Manehattan but let me assure you that it won't be happening again." He said. He hoped that him saying that would ease everyone. It didn't seem to work. He sighed again, "Okay, didn't think that would work, but it was worth the try." He said as he looked at them. At first the girls didn't know what to say to him but Rainbow spoke up.

"You're right that wouldn't work! Just what the hay was that… That thing you turned into?" She asked. The others looked to Soler with the same look. Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles stayed quiet, knowing that only he could explain. Soler took in one deep breath and started.

"Okay. Well, what you girls witnessed was another part of me. A much, much ,darker part of me that I don't like to let out." He said. That's when AJ chimed in..

"Well if ya don't like to let it out, what made it come out this time?" She asked.

"Well, he can come out through my emotions. Specifically the darker emotions, such as rage, but I have to get extremely mad before he gets released. That is, if I don't have a Chaos Emerald." Soler continued as he pulled out his Emerald. The girls looked confused.

"What do mean if you don't have an Emerald?" Rarity queried.

"Well, the Chaos Emeralds are sources of power, and that power can either be positive or negative, depending on the user's use of it. My emotions were purely negative, and it picked up on these emotions and fed me negative energy to power up, which lead to my transformation into my dark form." Soler continued. The girls had an understanding look, but he could still feel the caution they had towards him. He looked up at them.

"I know that after seeing that form, it can make anyone uneasy or not even want to trust me anymore, but please trust me when I say that I won't be letting that part of me out to roam anytime soon." He pleaded to them. The girls were about to say something, but he cut them off by walking in front of them and getting on his knees, "If you think that I'm a danger to you guys, I completely understand. So if you wish, I'll leave this place and won't return until I have gained your trust again." He said as he bowed. They were all stunned by his actions, they didn't even know what to say. Twilight was processing everything as best she could.

 _He seems very sincere, and I can tell that he means what he says, but if that thing gets out again, what's there to stop him from hurting us?_ She thought to herself. The room was in a deadly silence until Fluttershy walked up to Soler. Everyone stayed quiet and watched to see what she did. She got right in front of Soler and lifted his head. She looked into his eyes and could see how much he meant the words he said, and that he showed no signs of wanting to hurt them. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. Soler's eyes widened.

"I trust you. Just promise not to go into that scary form again." Fluttershy said as she broke the hug. Soler's face was dumbfounded.

 _I was sure that I would've lost everyone_ , he thought, _But I'm okay with being wrong for once._ He smiled back at her as a tear rolled down his face.

"I promise."

 _Chapter 12 is complete. Whelp, this is the start of the first arc and it seems like it's off to a very dramatic start, huh? An update to the story, I realized, and I'm sure you guys have too, that I know how to make a good story, but I don't know how to format for the life of me. So to solve this problem, a really good friend of mine has agreed to work with me to edit this story. So the past chapters I wrote will all be getting edited and replaced sooner or later. You can see that Ch. 1 has already been edited and put back up. So that's it for now, Solerwolf OUT!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Hmm… Idk really, let's just get to it_

 _ **Chapter 13: Time to Rock**_

 **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**

The group was gathered in the map room, planning their next step in finding the Emeralds.

"Okay everyone, let's start by finding the locations of the Emeralds, shall we?" Sonic said, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Yeah. Now that we have Shadow and Soler, locating the Emeralds should be a breeze." RD responded. The group looked at the two hedgehogs in conformation. Soler was going to respond but Shadow beat him to it.

"We might not be able to get pinpoint locations since this world's magic interferes with our Chaos Sensory, but we can get a good area to check. And thanks to this map, we can point out the locations easily enough." He said. "Soler are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling roaring and and raring to go." Soler responded. Shadow nodded as he pulled out his Emerald. Soler followed suit and pulled his out as well. The red and blue glow that both Emeralds were giving off entranced some of the others.

"No matter how many times they pull those gems out, they still give my goose bumps." Rarity said. Soler and Shadow both closed their eyes and stretched out their arms as they were concentrating on finding the Emeralds' locations. The two looked like they were having trouble locating any.

"What's the problem, guys?" Twilight asked them. The two both still kept their eyes closed as Soler responded.

"Well like Shadow said earlier, it wasn't going to be easy getting exact locations of the Emeralds since this world is flowing with magic." He started. "It messes with our ability to find Chaos Energy, and since we have such a large area to cover, it just makes it twice as difficult." He finished. The two went back into full concentration on the Emeralds. Just then both of the hedgehog's eyes opened up and were both glowing a lime greenish color. Then, Shadow created mini Chaos Spears and threw them at the map, each landing at a different location around Equestria. Soler and Shadow both closed their eyes and reopened them, back to normal. The two held their heads since it was so difficult locating the Emeralds. While the two were recovering from their search, the group looked at the map to see the where the Spears had landed. Everyone looked surprised at the locations, so far apart from each other. As Shadow and Soler recovered from using the Emeralds, they both walked back over to the map.

"So where are where going?" Soler asked, still holding his head. As he looked at the map, he saw just how far apart the emeralds were and sighed. "Man, it looks like this is going to be a long adventure." Shadow studied the map intensely.

"I don't know how we're going to get the Emeralds before Neo. The Emeralds are all over the place, and if we go together, we won't have time to get the others before him." Rainbow said.

"Yeah, Dashie is right. If we travel together, we won't have time to get the other Emeralds before that meanie, Neo." Pinkie chimed in. Shadow remained quiet and continued looking at the map. Starlight seemed to be the only one who notice him as he stared on.

 _What is he thinking about?_ She wondered.

"Who said we have to stay together?" Shadow queried, gaining the attention of everyone.

"What do you mean, Shadow?" Twilight asked. He walked around the map studying the locations.

"We have the locations of each of the Emeralds, and they're far apart from each other. Instead of us staying together, we should separate into teams of two, and each pair goes to a location at the same time. This way no matter which Emerald that he goes to, he'll meet resistance." Shadow said. Everyone looked in agreement with his idea. Everyone except Soler, who raised his hand.

"I'm sorry to try and down side your great plan kitten, but if you haven't noticed, there's an odd number of us." He said. Shadow scowled at the kitten remark but let it slide.

"That's easy to deal with since each team will consist of a Mobian and an Equestrian. Who are on teams and who is staying behind, I'm going to leave that up to Twilight since she's seen the chemistry of the groups longer than I have." He said. Everyone looked at Twi, who was surprised at the sudden attention.

"Well okay then, if I have to pick the pairs, I'll have to say that the same pairs from the Manehattan hunt should suffice." She said. Everyone looked in agreement except Shadow.

"Well whoever Soler was paired up with, I'll be taking his place since he won't be going." He said with a smirk. Soler looked hurt from what he said.

"What do you mean I'm not going? I have to go, I need to stop Neo." He pleaded. Shadows stern face didn't change.

"You're hurt and on injured reserve in case thing go wrong with any of the teams." He said. Soler was about to say something back but Sonic stopped him.

"I know how much you hate to sit on the sidelines, but just this time, take a breather man. And recover." He said. Soler looked in his eyes and sighed.

"Alright… Just stay safe guys." Soler said. Everyone got in their pairs and waited to hear the locations.

"Okay, Sonic and Rainbow, you guys are going to the Emerald in the mountains. Tails, Fluttershy, you two are going to the Emerald in the forest. Knuckles and Applejack, you guys are going to the one out in the desert. And lastly, Shadow and I will be going to Emerald at the lake." Twilight said. "Pinkie, Rarity, I hope you girls don't mind sitting this one out." The two shook their heads.

"Oh not at all darling, I have some orders I need to attend to anyway. So I'll be busy." Rarity said.  
"Yeah, and the Cakes have some orders they need help with for this huge party. So I'll be busy too." Pinkie said.

"Okay then. Spike, I need you to send a letter to the Princess letting her know of the current events and to be on alert for any signs of Neo." Twilight said to him.

"You got it Twi." He responded before Soler stopped him.

"Hey, uh, Spike. Think you can leave out the whole me going dark thing?" He asked him silently. Spike nodded.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe." He replied. Soler smiled in relief. Soler turned back to the others.

"Okay guys, we got our mission. You guys ready to do this!" He shouted.

"Yeah!" They all yelled back in unison.

"With me on our team, we should be able to blast through this with Sonic speed!" Sonic said as he smirked.

"Yeah, and with me here, I'll make sure that it'll be 20% cooler." RD said while taking flight.

"Well, time to dust off my treasure hunting skills. Can't fall behind that bat." Knuckles said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Don't worry partner, this should be as easy as bucking apples on a summer day." AJ chimed in as she tipped her hat.

"Oh I hope there won't be any scary monsters." Fluttershy said.

"Don't worry Fluttershy. I'm sure there will be some friendly animals there you can meet." Tails said.

"Well I'm sure we'll make a great team, Shadow." Twilight said to him with a smile.

"Hmph. I'm sure we'll get the Emerald without much hassle." Shadow said.

Soler and Starlight watched this all happen and Soler looked highly confused.

"Okay can someone tell me exactly what that whole little scene was?" He asked them. The group looked at him in confusion,

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked. That only made Soler's face scrunch up even more.

"What do I mean? I mean the whole little team introductions you all just did like as if we were in a video game or something." He said. Everyone looked confused.

"I'm sorry partner, but I don't have a lick bit of sense of what you're talking about." Applejack responded. Soler was dumbfounded. He looked to Starlight for back up but she looked as confused at what he meant, just like the others. He sighed and let it go. Spike walked back into the room.

"Okay Twilight, I sent the letter to the Princess. You guys are good to go." He said. With that, each group took their leave to their Emerald in high hopes. Rarity and Pinkie went back to their jobs and left Soler, Starlight, and Spike at the castle.

"I hope they find the Emeralds before Neo." Starlight said.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Soler said.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Spike asked them. Soler yawned and stretched his arms.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm going to bed. Since I'm on injured reserve, this is a good time to get some sleep." Soler started as he started to walk towards his room, "Just one request, don't wake me up unless it's an emergency please." He asked as he made his way to his room. Starlight and Spike looked at each other then back at their wounded warrior as he disappeared down the hall.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

Soler made his way to his room and to the bed. He smiled and yawned, realizing just how sleepy he was.

"Man, I could sleep for a month with the way I'm feeling. So glad to be back with my bed." He said to himself. He kicked off his shoes and plopped down on the bed. He smiled as he got himself comfortable and drifted off to sleep. Soler for once was having a good dream.

He was back in the garden at Celestia's Castle and the moon was shining bright. He was sitting and relaxing on the grass, and next to him, the princess of the night relaxing next to him. Luna rested on him as they both sat in silence, enjoying each other's company. Soler let out a breath.

"Man I so enjoy your nights Luna, they're the best." He said. Luna giggled and snuggled up on him some more.

"Well, I just like spending them with you." She said. Soler smiled too.

"Yeah, same here Luna, there isn't anywhere else I would want other than to be here with you." He said. Luna stirred and got up and into Soler's face with a blush. He also blushed from looking into her as their faces slowly started to get closer.  
"Soler there's something I've wanted to tell you." She started

"Yeah?" He responded. The two were so close that they could feel each other's breath.

"I wanted to tell you… Wake up." She whispered. This made Soler back away.

"Wait, what?" He said. Luna was still blushing and smiling sweetly.

"I said wake up, Soler." She repeated. He still looked confused.

"Wake up Soler… Wake up." The time her voice changed from her's to Spike's, which only made Soler eyes widen.

"What the –?" He started as the world started to shake and Spike's voice became out louder.

"Wake up Soler. Wake up!" He shouted, then everything went white. Soler slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of green eyes looking right into his.

"Spike, why are you so close to my face?" He asked groggily. Spike backed up and Soler could see that he was upside down. "Next question, why are you upside down?"  
"We don't have time for questions, we have a huge problem!" Spike shouted. "They still haven't returned yet and it's been too long! We need to go look for them." He said. Soler forced himself upright and looked out the window and could see that the sun hadn't moved too much more up into the sky than from when he went to sleep. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Dude, it's only been a few hours since they left. Calm down man, they're fine." he said as he stretched. Spike looked highly confused.  
"What do you mean a few hours? They have been gone for four days." he said. This stopped Soler mid-stretch.

"Did you say four days?" He asked. Spike nodded, Solers eyes widened

 _I've been out for four days. Well, that beats my record of three days._ He thought to himself. Soler shook his head.

"Okay, so tell me exactly what's been going on on our way to the map." Soler said as he got his shoes on. Soler and Spike quickly made their way to the map room as Spike explained the situation. The two made it to the map room.

"So you're telling me you lost contact with them two days ago, and even Celestia hasn't heard from them?" Soler asked as he looked at the map.

"Yeah. I asked Celestia if she could get any sign as to where they might've gone. But she has no idea. She can't find them anywhere. Not even Luna could pick up any signs of them." Spike said. Soler frowned at the new information, then he got on his communicator.

"Sonic, pick up." He said but all that came back was static, "Sonic come in." Static.

"Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, respond." He said, but still only static. He turned off his communicator and looked back at the map. "Something's wrong. Even if Sonic doesn't reply back, I know Tails will. Looks like I need to go out and look for them myself." Soler said. Spike looked at his still bandaged body.

"Are you sure? You still look pretty beat up." He commented. Soler looked down at his wrappings and started to take them off.

"Don't worry, I should be healed up enough for a little adventure." He said as took off the last of his wrappings. Spike still looked worried but then he remembered something.

"Oh Soler, Shadow wanted me to give you this." Spike said as he went and got the red Chaos Emerald that Shadow holds. Soler took the Emerald in confusion.

"Did he say why he wanted me to have this instead of him?" He asked. Spike nodded.

"Yeah, he said that it was safer here instead of out there since the threat of Neo was out there." He told him. Soler held the Emerald and also pulled out his Emerald. Soler could feel the power of the two Emeralds surging into him. It always felt like a massive, continuous surge of energy. Even Spike could feel the power coming from both Emeralds together. Soler looked down at Spike and handed him both Emeralds, to which Spike looked up at him in confusion.

"What? Are you giving me these? Shouldn't you have them?" He asked. Soler smiled.

"Well Shadow is right, Neo's still out there. If I were to take both Emeralds, I'd be putting them at a greater risk of getting them taken." He responded. Soler then went to find some paper and mapped out the route from the castle to the mountains. "Well, it seems like I better get this rescue started. And what better place to start than the mountains?" He said to Spike. He got down on one knee and put a hand on the dragon's shoulder.

"Don't worry Spike, I'll find our friends and bring them back. So can I entrust you with watching over the Emeralds and telling Celestia what's going on while I'm gone." He asked of him. Spike nodded.

"You can count on me." He said. Soler smiled and stood back up.

"I know I can, buddy. Now, without further delay, I shall be off. Wish me luck." He said as he ran out of the castle and to the mountains.

 _Chap 13 in the bag. I know that this one is kinda short, but don't worry, I did it this way for a reason. How are you guys enjoying the story so far? I hope you're liking it. I know that I'm not even close to being done with this story, but I have so many other story ideas in my head already that I can't wait to start on. But not until this one is done with. So please, I love any and all reviews, don't be shy we're all friends here. Plus it's your opinion, so please leave one for old time sakes. This is Solerwolf OUT!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Time for the next one._

 _ **Chapter 14: Cold Lighting**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

"Man, why are mountains so cold?" Soler said to himself as he trudged through the snow. Soler had made his way to the mountains in a matter of an hour or so with a map. The wind started to pick up and the snow was starting to blow more wildly.

"Man, where did all this wind and snow come from? I can barely see a few feet in front of me." He complained. On his way up the mountain, the sky had been very clear and it was a beautiful sight, the serenity of mountain range. The mountains he was on were located outside of the Crystal Empire. Soler shivered again as the wind blew. "Okay, this is getting weird now. It was pleasant coming up here, but now it's almost like a full blown storm. Where did it come from?" He wondered aloud. As Soler made his way up to the last location Sonic and Rainbow were last heard from, the weather changed so dramatically that it caught him off guard. The weird part is, the more he made his way up the mountain, the worse the storm got. It was so bad he couldn't even tell if he was still going in the right direction.

 _If Sonic and RD had to face this storm, they might've went into some cave for shelter_ , He thought. He shivered again as the wind seemed to pick up even more.

"Man… I'm glad that I know how to regulate by body temperature. I mean, if I can breathe in the coldness of space, I can handle this." He started as the wind blew again and cut of his sentence, "But this storm doesn't feel natural." Soler began feeling a strange energy around him, and it wasn't the friendly kind. He stopped in his tracks and tried to feel where the source was coming from, except, the energy seemed to be coming from all around him. He looked around in the storm and then that's when he noticed that it looked like the storm was swirling around him.

"Okay. Now I know this isn't natural weather. Show yourself!" He shouted. The storm was still raging on, almost picking him up, shouting. He shielded his eyes from the snow and tried to look around to see who was causing it. He then started to make out horse-like figures swirling around in the storm.

He created a Chaos Spear and threw it at one of the horses, making direct contact. A pained wail could be heard as it broke formation from the others. The storm didn't die down much, but the rest of the group made themselves visible for him. There were a total of five horses all together,. They were almost ghostly, their lower halves just tails. Soler also noticed their red eyes as they stared at him. He felt a shiver down his spine from all of the cold stares.

"Okay guys, I don't know what it is that I've done to tick you off, but can we stop with all this snow and wind?" He asked. None of the horses made any movements, hovering in place while staring at him. Soler just looked back at them and sighed. Then, one of them charged at him. It wasn't going too fast, so Soler was ready for the attack. Once it was right on him, he swung at it, his punch going right through it as it went through his side. He looked at his fist, then at it. It hovered behind him and stared daggers at him. He was about to open his mouth, only to feel an immense amount of pain coming from where it went through him. The part that it touched felt extremely cold, and then a sharp pain came to him as frozen crystals came out of his side. He yelled in pain and fell to one knee. Soler was breathed hard.

 _Man ,just one attack and it did this much to me? Plus, I can't touch it, so how am I going to fight back?_ He thought to himself. He looked back up at it and saw that the others had started to form a circle around him, preparing to attack. He stood up and knocked the crystals off of him.

"So from that first encounter, I'm guessing that you guys are just some sort of embodiment of energy and can manipulate the cold. From what little I've learned about this world, it seems to revolve around magic that is reflected on emotions and from this coldness I guess you guys are powered by negative emotions. Am I right?" He asked them. They didn't reply, but just kept their formation around him and maintained their stares. He sighed.

"Well you guys are chatter boxes, huh? Anyway, let's just get this over with. There are some friends I need to find, and you're in my way." Soler said confidently. That's when they all started to move. But instead of charging at him all at once, they all went back into the storm and circled him like a group of sharks. He stayed on his toes as he waited for an attack. The storm that the creatures created picked up at rapid pace, and it was becoming harder for him to see them, though he could still sense them. He felt one coming from behind him and rolled out of the way of its attack. Then, another one came charging at greater speed and made contact with him as it right through his stomach. He wailed in pain as the same cold crystals formed out of the contact.

 _Okay. Can't let another one hit me or I might be done for. There has to be a way to hurt them._ Soler thought. Then, three of them charged him simultaneously. Soler's eyes widened as he tried to dodge them. He ducked under one and jumped over the other but the wind picked up and blinded him mid-air, allowing the third to go right through him. It went from his back out through his chest. He howled in agony as he fell. The other creatures saw this chance and all charged towards him. Each went through a different part of him. One went through his arm, another is leg, and another through his back. He tormented cries were lost to the storm. Crystals came out from most of his body, and once he hit the ground, the crystals on his back snapped, intensifying the cold pain. Soler laid on the ground, panting hard, his bodily temperature was getting beyond what his body could regulate. He touched parts of his body and couldn't feel those parts of his body. He groaned and painfully forced himself back up. The creatures went back to circling him.

 _Okay, I'm going to die if I can't think of something._ He figured, remembering that when we threw a Chaos Spear at them, it affected them. He felt his arms and knew he couldn't throw a Spear straight, so the only option is for a Chaos Blast. Soler began gathering Chaos Energy as fast as he could. The creatures picked up on the sudden surge of strange energy Soler was giving off and picked up the storm and the speed at which they circled him. He was charging as fast as he could and he could feel that they weren't going to keep their distance for too much longer, so he had to be quick. Just as he neared a fully charged Chaos Blast, they all charged him at once, from all sides. Right before they could touch him, he released all of the stored energy.

"Chaos Blast!" Soler shouted. The massive pulse of energy that came from Soler pushed back all of the creatures as they cried in pain from the energy and dissipated out of sight. As soon the creatures disappeared, Soler could see that there was a Temple a few yards away. He shivered once more.

"Okay. Now that that's settled. Off to the temple." He said as he trudged his way to the temple.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Mountain Temple)**

Soler made his way into the temple and saw that most of it had ice covering it, from the walls, to the icicles hanging from the ceiling. The temperature on the inside was still cold, but it was warmer than the outside. Soler whistled.

"Man this place seems ancient. I wonder who built this place, and how long it's been here." He said a loud. He walked through the temple looking for any signs of Sonic or Rainbow. "Sonic! Rainbow! Where are you guys?" He shouted to no one. He got no response but kept pushing forward anyway. As he walked, he noticed that a wall of the temple that didn't have ice on it, and looked like there was writing on the wall. He couldn't understand it, guessing that it was in Equestrian. He was still interested in what it could be saying. He seemed so fascinated by this place's culture and history, but never wanted to sit down and study up on it like Shadow. The temple didn't seem all that big, and was pretty straight forward since it didn't many corridors leading from the main path. He still found no signs of Sonic or Rainbow and he couldn't sense the Emerald anywhere, meaning it was gone. He sighed.

 _Looks like the Emerald's not here, but I still need to find Sonic and RD. I wonder where they are._ Soler thought. He made his way to the back of the temple, which led to a large open room. He walked into the room, impressed at how big it was. _This must be the middle of the temple._ He looked at the center of the room and saw that in the center, there seemed to be some sort of altar. He walked up to it and looked at how it looked like it could hold something. He wondered what it was, and immediately dropped the thought when he noticed something blue on the ground. His eyes widened and he ran over to it, and as he got closer, he saw that it was Sonic on the ground, unconscious. He held Sonic in his arms and put an ear to his chest. Soler sighed, glad to hear a heartbeat. Then, he noticed how cold he was and that the tip of his quills started to frost over.

 _At least he's alive, but it looks like he's been here for a while. I wonder what happened to him? And where's Rainbow?_ He thought.

"Hey, Sonic. Wake up, man. Sonic, wake up." Soler said as he shook him. At first Sonic didn't move too much, but as he kept shaking him he started to stir and open his eyes a bit.

"Sol… So… Soler?" He barely whispered. Soler smiled.

"Yeah I'm here, blue. What happened here? And where is Rainbow?" He asked. Sonic grabbed Solers arm.

"Rainbow… Rainbow."

"Yeah, what about Rainbow?"

"Rainbow… Save… Rainbow." Sonic pleaded before he passed back out. Soler looked at him with worry.

"Okay buddy, I'm going to save her. But first you, okay?" He told him.

"Well it seems like I have another rat to squash." A voice said. This ticked Soler off.

"Hey! I'm not a rat! I'm a hedge…" He started but stopped once he turned back and saw who it was. "Oh, this might be a problem." He stared at the Rainbow who didn't look like her normal self. Her mane and tail had turned a dark black, while her normal coat color turned a darker shade of blue. Her eyes were no longer magenta, instead a blank white, pupiless. The way she looked reminded him of what he looks like when he goes dark.

"What happened to you? Who did this to you?" He asked her. She smiled wickedly at him.

"Oh, what? You don't like the new me? I think I look awesome. Plus, with this new power, I can squash little rats. Like you." She said to him. Soler could feel the negative energy coming off of her and it didn't feel like magic, more like Chaos Energy. Soler picked up Sonic and teleported them to the entrance of the room and placed him down. Soler looked back at Rainbow with a glare, knowing of the coming fight. Before Soler could take a step, he felt Sonic grab his leg to which he looked down at him.

"Please… Don't hurt her." He whispered. Soler looked at him and squatted to his face.

"Don't worry, blue. I know how much you care for her. I'm not gonna hurt her." Soler told him to which Sonic let go and let Soler walk in the room. Soler walked up to Rainbow as she was hovering in the middle of the room smiling.

"So I guess this means you're going to take me down? What's this about not going to hurt me?" She laughed, "That's why you rats are so pathetic. Can't even hurt a pegasus, that's why I took down the blue one without much hassle. He tried to talk to me saying, 'Oh Dash, please don't do this. I'm your friend.' Bwahaha so pathetic and weak." Soler stared daggers at her as she laughed.

"You know he wouldn't hurt you, no matter what. But I'm wondering what caused you to turn this way to begin with." He said. She stopped laughing and looked down on him.

"Well come at me and I might tell you. Rat." She said. Soler clenched his fist but let out a deep breath.

"As you wish." He said and got into a fighting stance. Dash straightened her flying and smiled. Soler felt something going on but couldn't exactly tell what she was going to do. Then a dark cloud started to form around her and the quills on the back of his neck started to stick up. She smiled as she could see the look on his face.

"Hey rat, I hope you're ready for a storm." She started as he stared right at her, "Because it's gonna be a big one." Then, a bolt of lightning came at Soler with blazing speed from the clouds around her. He barely dodged the attack and looked to see the mark it left on the spot where it hit.

 _Man, her lighting is moving way faster than normal lighting. And it feels like the lighting is being powered up with Chaos Energy. This might be harder than I first thought._ Soler thought to himself. Another bolt came at him and dodged it, ready for the attack. Rainbow wasn't letting up on lighting, as she began sending a mass barrage at him, at blinding speeds too. Soler was running around, doing his best to dodge the fast lighting, but it was becoming harder, each strike seeming to have a mind of its own on where it was going to land. There was a brief moment between strikes and he took the opportunity to get close. He jumped right at her and tried to grab her. Rainbow didn't try to move as she saw him get close. He was almost able to grab her when he saw that she smiled, and his eyes widened in shock.

 _She wanted me this close!_ He realized all too late as a bolt of lightning struck him full force from above him. He screamed in suffering as the lighting sent him flying to the ground, making him pop off the ground and slid to a stop. He was scrunched up in a ball as the electricity was coursing through him. Rainbow was laughing maniacally.

"Did you really think I didn't notice you get that close? Such a dumb rat. I let you get close just to strike you more easily." She said. Just then a Chaos Spear whizzed past her head, missing her by a hair. She looked down at an angry Soler as he stood back up and stared right back at her with another Spear ready to go. She smirked, "I may have misjudged you, rat. It seems that you have the guts to hurt me." She stared at him for a moment. Then she smiled wickedly.

"This may be a better fight than I thought." Soler didn't respond, instead throwing another Spear at her, barely missing her again, before she sent another huge bolt of lighting at him. With the last lightning strike still coursing through him, he couldn't move too fast, so he formed a Spear and blocked the attack by reflecting it into a wall. She smiled more as clouds formed above Soler's head. He noticed it just before it struck and got out of the way of the strikes. Eventually, many clouds had formed above him as he ran around Rainbow, dodging the strikes and throwing Spears at her. She easily kept dodging them, but he noticed that it looked like it took massive concentration to keep the clouds forming above him. He had an idea.

"Man, this lighting is so pathetic! I mean, I could do better with this than you." Soler mocked her. A frown formed on her face. Soler smirked, "Oh, did I strike a nerve litle pony?" Her frown deepened into a scowl as she stopped the onslaught of attacks. He stopped and smirked.

"See? I told you that a child could do more damage than you if they had your powers." He egged on. Just then a huge surge of lightning came up from under him as it hit him full force. He wailed, the attack having taken him by shock. RD didn't smile from hearing his pain but only kept her scowl. Once the lighting died down, Soler was still standing in the same pose he got struck in before he collapsed to the ground. He tried to move, but the electricity surging through him made it hard as he got on his knees.

"Now I'm done playing with you, hedgehog. It's time, to die." She said. Soler stood up, still shaking, but he smiled.

"You called me hedgehog." He said. She only scowled as a cloud formed around Soler and lighting charged around him.

"Goodbye, hedgehog," was all she said before she let the onslaught of lighting strike him. It happened with such power and speed that she didn't even hear him scream. Sonic watched in horror as he saw the attack make direct contact with Soler. Once the clouds dissipated, they saw that there wasn't even a body there, only marks from where the attack hit.

 _No, he can't be dead._ Sonic thought to himself. Rainbow laughed.

"Man, I only wished that I could've heard him scream one last time. But I guess my power was too awesome for him to handle. That's what he gets for mocking me." She bragged.

"Well, I don't know about handle, but if that attack did hit me, I sure would've been done for." She heard him say. She turned around angrily to see Soler resting on a wall smirking. She started fuming.

"How are you alive? You should be dead!" She shouted. He only smirked at her.

"Come at me and find out." He taunted. She screamed in rage and sent a bolt straight at him and surprisingly, he didn't move from the attack and let it hit him. "Come on. I know you can do better than that." Soler got into a different position. Rainbow sent another rage-filled bolt at him and it hit again. He yawned.

"Was that supposed to be an attack? It kinda tickled." Soler retorted. Her anger rose.

"Why won't you hold still and die?" She shouted. He smiled.

"I am holding still, you just can't aim." He said. "I mean, come on, I'm standing right here Dashie." This time his words came from behind her. Her eyes widened as there were now two Soler's in the room.

"Yeah Dashie. Step it up." Another one said in a different area. More and more Soler's started to appear around the room. And they were all taunting her.

"What's wrong? Can't hit little ol' me? Are you tired? I can go get you some water if you want. Man, and I thought this was going to be a challenge, what a waste." The Soler's were saying. The whole time they were taunting her, she only grew furious at them, and closed her eyes. They continued taunting her, getting louder as more appeared around her. Sonic watched the spectacle and could feel that she was building energy for a massive attack. Right when it looked like the Soler's couldn't get louder, she opened her eyes, which were sparking with electricity.

"Shut up!" She screamed. Then, a massive barrage of lightning poured down and came up from the ground as it struck the Solers all at once. There was so much lighting that it blinded Sonic and he had to cover his eyes. As the flash faded, he could see that all of the Solers were gone, and Rainbow looked exhausted, still hovering in the middle of the room. Before she could smile, the real Soler appeared in front of her, to which she widened her eyes,

"Gotcha RD." He said as he put his hand on her chest. He quickly focused in on the negative Chaos Energy and pumped in some positive energy to counterbalance the negative energy. Once he pumped in enough energy, Rainbow screamed in agony from the sudden energy. Her black mane turned back to normal. Once the transformation was over, she fell unconscious and into Soler's arms. He landed on the ground, holding an inert Rainbow Dash as he walked over to Sonic. He placed her on the ground as he fell to one knee.  
"Don't worry, I didn't hurt her. I just pumped in some positive energy to counterbalance the negative energy that got placed in her." Soler said, winded. Sonic didn't reply. He simply crawled over to Rainbow and lied down next to her and held her close to him.

"Thank you." He said weakly before he passed out again. Soler smiled at the sight, glad to see them kinda okay. He sighed as he stood up.

"Man, I was hoping at least one of you guys would be up, but now I have to carry both of you." He fussed. He then felt his side and winced, "I don't think I have enough energy to do a Chaos Control back to the castle. Wait, I think the Crystal Empire is near this mountain range. I should have enough energy to get us there at least." He collected Sonic and RD as he focused the last of his energy to teleport them to the Crystal Empire.

 **(P.O.V. none, Crystal Empire)**

Soler was sitting in a castle medic wing waiting on the nurse to return. He teleported them to the center of the city and scared a lot of ponies. He made his way to the castle and asked for help. At first, the guards were reluctant to let him in, but then they saw who he was and saw Sonic and Rainbow passed out in his arms. They went to get the Princess and her husband and let him the castle. The medical staff took Sonic and Rainbow away to be examined while he waited. The nurses asked if he wanted them to look at his wounds but he shrugged them off and told them to focus on them. It had been awhile since the two had been taken, and he began to worry for them. They had been on that mountain for a few days without warmth, Rainbow had been under the control of negative Chaos Energy and who knows how that's affecting her body. Soler was tapping his foot impatiently when a nurse came out of the room and walked to him. He stood up.

"How are they?" He asked her. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Don't worry, all they need is a lot rest and they should be back to normal in no time." The nurse said. Soler sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much." He said back to her. She smiled and walked back into the room to care for them. A guard came from around a corner.

"Princess Cadence and Shining Armor will see you now." He said and led Soler to the throne room. As they walked in, Soler could see that there was another Alicorn princess, as well as a white stallion.

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire. I am Princess Cadance, and this is my husband, Shining Armor." Cadance said. Her coat was a bright pink, her mane and tail a blend of pink and purple, yellow streaks flowing through them. It didn't flow continuously like Luna's or Celestia does, but it was just as pretty. And her eyes were a splendid lavender.

"Yes, we have heard about you and your friends' arrival and hoped that you would come and visit us just under better circumstances." Shining Armor said. His coat was a bright white, his mane and tail a cobalt blue with a streak of a lighter blue running through the middle. From the way he presented himself, he reminded Soler of one of the guards he's seen. Soler bowed to the two.

"I'm grateful that you guys helped me with Sonic and Rainbow. I don't think I would've been able to get them back to Twilight's Castle." Soler said.

"Well, you don't need to thank us, we're always ready to help Twilight and her friends. And may I ask where Twilight and the others are?" Cadance asked. Soler scratched the back of his head and looked away from them. The two didn't like his body movements and looked at each other with concern.

"Where is my sister?" Shining ask Soler again. Soler sighed.

"Well you see, I don't exactly know where she's at. Hehe." Soler said to which Cadance looked at Soler with concern. Shining looked at him with more than a bit of anger. Soler was putting on his best forced smiled from the tension in the room. When you think the air couldn't get any thicker, a baby alicorn popped out of nowhere and into Soler's arms. He looked down at the cute baby and it smiled back up at him and laughed.  
"So I think there's some things we need to discuss." Soler said as he played with the baby, "But first, let's wait till Sonic and RD recover. They're more important at the moment, and they'll be able to tell us what happened at the temple. So, if you could wait a bit, I'll stick around to explain." The baby laughed in his arms.

 _Chap 14 is over and out. Man, this story is taking some turns, but there's way more in store. I don't have to much to say this outro, but thanks for all you guys who have been reading up until now and the new readers as well. So this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Hmm, I wonder. What would Sonic do?_

 _ **Chapter 14: Aftershock**_

 **(P.O.V. none, Crystal Empire)**

Soler was playing with the baby, who Soler learned was named Flurry Heart, while at the dinner table. Cadance and Shining Armor sat next to each other at the same end of the table near Soler and the Flurry. Soler was playfully bouncing the baby up and down on his knee while she laughed joyfully. Cadance smiled at the two.

"You seem to work well with kids." She said. Soler made a funny face at Flurry to which she laughed gleefully.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I don't really deal with a lot of youth, so when I do, I always try and get them to just laugh." He started, then made another face at Flurry to get her to laugh again, "Because no kid should go without laughter ya know." Cadance kept her smile.

 _He might not be a pony, but he has a gentle soul like one of us._ She thought to herself. Shining Armor wasn't in as pleasant a mood as Soler and Cadance were in since he found out that his sister had gone missing. Soler hadn't told him how many days, since he was sure he would've blown a fuse if he found out. Cadance could feel his discomfort and put her hoof on his.

"Shiny, I know you're worried about Twilight. But you know just as well as I do that she can handle herself." She told him as she looked at him. He didn't look back but she could see the worry in his face.

"Yes, I know she can, but that doesn't mean I'm not concerned." He responded. Cadance turned his face to where he was looking at her and she smiled softly at him.

"I know how much you worry, which shows just how much you love her. So I'm sure Soler will find her." She told him. It didn't fully brighten him up, but he did smile a bit. Soler smiled too, at the sight, and at the strength of their bond. Flurry Heart was now playing with Soler's quills, which he didn't mind at all.

"Excuse me Cadance, if I may ask, what is it that you're the Princess of?" He queried. She turned her attention back to Soler.

"Well, I'm the Princess of Love." She said. Soler looked confused.

"Love? You mean the emotion?" He asked in disbelief, she nodded with a smile. He decided to push the concept out of his head and went back to Flurry.

"Well, I guess that's cool and such." He said. Cadance looked at him puzzled.

"Well I'm sure you have loved someone your life, right Soler?" She responded. The question caught him off guard. He stopped playing with Flurry for a quick moment. He shook it off and kept playing with the little filly,

"Yeah, I did. But that was a long time ago." He said smiling at the baby. Cadance seemed intrigued by this.

"Oh, and who was the lucky gal?" She asked. Soler paused again from her question, but this time he couldn't shrug it off like the last one. Flurry picked up on his sudden change of mood and she stopped laughing and looked at him with curiosity.

 _Why did he stop playing with Flurry?_ She wondered. Shining also picked up that this was a sensitive subject for him, though his wife didn't, as she waited for an answer. Soler still didn't move, instead looking down the table with a blank look. Before the air could get any thicker, Shining interrupted.

"Dear, don't you think it's time for Flurry to go to bed? I mean, it is way past her bedtime." He asked her. This drew her attention from Soler to the baby.

"Oh my! You're right. I should get her, and myself, to bed now that you mention it." Cadance said as she lit her horn and poofed Flurry onto her back. Soler snapped out of his thoughts and realized that Flurry was gone and back with Cadance.

"Awe, is it bedtime already?" He said with a pouty voice. This got Flurry to giggle once more as Cadance started to walk away.

"Yes, it's time for us girls to get our beauty sleep. Say bye-bye to the nice hedgehog." Cadance said to Flurry. Flurry just giggled and waved at Soler, to which he smiled and waved back at her. The two disappeared around a corner and left the two boys in the room alone. Once they were gone and out of earshot, Soler's smile faded and he let out a deep sigh.

"You know, I am a captain of Celestia's guard." Shining started as he made his way to Soler's side. Soler looked at him wondering what he's getting at. "I've had to train a lot of my men and each one has a different backstory on why they joined up to serve. Some join because they want to protect their land, others join so that way they can put food on the table for their wife and kids, and there are those few who join because they want to protect something dear to them and need to get stronger." Shining continued. Soler was still wondering what he was getting at, but he kept his full attention on the captain.

"I've dealt with them all, and have watched them become loyal guards ready to give their lives to this kingdom. So what I'm trying to get at is that I've seen some of my men make the same face you made when Cadance asked you that question about who was it you loved, and from your face, I could tell that you lost that love. I'm sorry that it happened to you, but from the way you treated my daughter. I can also see that the loss gave you the fire to protect those around you with your life and that, I can respect." He added on. Soler was wide-eyed at the captain's power of deduction, and was still silent. Shining put a hoof on Soler's shoulder and looked at his eyes.

"Yes, your eyes tell the same story I just said. And with eyes like those, I know you can get my sister and your friends back." He said. Soler's full attention remained on the captain, like he was reading his soul. Shining let go of his shoulder and began his walk to Cadance, "But one last thing. I can also see that your eyes seem clouded with vengeance." Soler didn't move.

"Don't let that vengeance consume you and keep you from finding love again. Okay?" Shining finished as he walked off to his room, leaving Soler to his thoughts.

 **(P.O.V. none, Medic Area)**

Soler was sitting back out in the hallway of the medic wing, waiting for the nurses to return. It was almost midday, and Cadance and Shining Armor would meet him there to hear from Sonic and Rainbow as soon as they were released. So he was again tapping his foot, impatiently waiting.

 _Manm the constant waiting is killing me._ Soler thought to himself. Before Soler thought he was going to lose his mind with the waiting, a nurse came out of the room. She motioned to him that he may enter and he practically jumped to see his friends. Before he entered, the nurse stopped him.

"They have only just woken up from days in the straight cold without warmth, food, or water. So please, go easy on them." She requested of him. Soler nodded and she let him in. Sonic was sitting up in his bed, eating some lunch in a hurry. Rainbow was sitting up as well, but she didn't touch her food. She was just looking down at her sheets. Soler smirked in seeing Sonic devouring food like his normal self.

"So I see being out in the cold hasn't lessened that hunger of yours, huh?" He observed. This caught both of the speedsters attention and they looked at him. Sonic smiled at him with a mouth full of food.

"You fow it!" Sonic said happily. Soler laughed.

"Swallow first, man." He replied while smiling. Soler looked over at Rainbow and he only got a glimpse of her eyes before she looked back down at her sheets. "Hey Dash, how are you feeling?" She responded, but didn't look back up at him.

"Fine, I guess." She said in a low tone, scarcely audible. Soler looked at her with concern, but turned his attention to the gluttonous hedgehog. Sonic was steadily eating away, as if he hadn't spent four day up on a frozen mountain. Just then, they heard the doors open up as Cadance and Shining Armor walked into the room.

"I'm glad to see that you two have woken up and are well." Cadance said. Soler noticed that Flurry wasn't with them.

"Hey Princess, if I may ask, where's Flurry?" He asked her. She giggled from his question.

"I see you have grown fond of her. But she's been put down to rest for her nap. So she won't be joining us." She responded. Soler kind of slumped down that his little friend wasn't joining them. Shining stepped up and got the attention of the room.

"Well I'm glad that you two are alright. But can we get down to the task of what happened on the mountain tops?" He said. Soler popped out of his slump and his ears perked up.

"Yeah Sonic, what did happen on the mountaintop?" He interrogated. Sonic swallowed his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"It's kind of a long story, but I'll recall all that happened as best as I can." Sonic started.

 **(P.O.V. Sonic & Rainbow, Mountains)**

The two had made their way to the mountain, and besides, the cold nothing seemed out of place. Rainbow had a coat on as she walked next to Sonic. He didn't have a coat on, but much like Soler, he knew how to regulate his body temperature, so the cold didn't bother him much.

"You're not cold?" She asked him. He smirked and shook his head.

"Nope. I can go out into the vacuum of space without a space suit on, and it's way colder up there than this mountain is, so the cold doesn't bother me much. Plus, I'm more disciplined, so I don't feel the cold." He teased.

"You? Disciplined?" She retorted before bursting into laughter, "You're as disciplined as a little filly." Sonic rolled his eyes as her laughter died down some.

"If I'm as disciplined as a filly, then you're as disciplined as a newborn." He mocked her. Rainbow smiled and rolled her eye's.

"Whatever you say, blue. Now are we getting any closer to this Emerald? I'm freezing my tail off up here." She said as she shuddered. Sonic looked at her.

"You know, if you're that cold, I can hold you. I'm sure by body temperature will warm you up." He said, blushing. Rainbow also blushed as the thought of Sonic holding her ran through her head. She shook it off though.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer blue, but I'm good. Let's just find the Emerald." She said. Sonic stopped blushing and pulled out the map they got before they left.

"Well, from what this map is reading, we should be close to it." He said. The two looked around to see if there was any glow from the Emerald. They saw nothing more than the clean, white snow on the ground.

"You're sure you can't sense the Emeralds like Shadow or Soler can?" She asked him.

"Nope. Just not as in tune with Chaos Energy as those two are." He responded. It was clear skies on the mountaintops, but even with clear weather, they saw no glow. They traveled up the mountain more and stumbled upon a temple.

"Huh, I wonder where this temple came from." Rainbow said as the two walked towards it.

"Yeah, the map says nothing about a temple up here." Sonic said looking at the map. The two made their way to the entrance of the temple. The inside of the temple was warmer than the outside of the temple, but only by, maybe, a few degrees. Parts of the walls and exterior had ice covering them, and some weird inscriptions on the walls. Sonic was studying one of the walls as Rainbow was looking at another.

"Hey Rainbow, do you understand anything on these walls?" He asked her.

"Nope, never seen this type of writing before. It's new to me." She responded. Sonic looked at the walls a little longer before giving up and walking away.

"Come on RD, let's go find the Emerald." He said. Rainbow caught up with him as the two ventured deeper into the temple. At first, they didn't see any signs of the Emerald, but then, they noticed a faint glow coming from the end of the hallway. The two squinted at the glow as they closer to it. It eventually lead them to massive chamber area that looked like it was the center of the temple.

"Man, this place is huge!" Sonic shouted to see if he could get an echo.

"Yeah, I didn't think this place would be this big on the inside." Rainbow admitted. The two were looking around the area when both noticed the glow coming from the center of the room. Sonic ran over to it and was happy to find the yellow Chaos Emerald.

"Hey Dash, I found the Emerald!" He shouted with glee. Rainbow flew over to him and saw the yellow Emerald on the pedestal.

"Yeah ya did. Good work, blue boy." She remarked. Sonic nodded while smiling.

"Yeah, now that we have three, we only need to get the last three so that Neo will only have one." He said aloud.

"Yeah. And once we get those, we can kick Neo's flank." Rainbow said clapping her hooves together.

"Well, I don't think it will be that easy to do." They heard a new voice say. Sonic and Rainbow eyes widened as they turned around to see Neo standing at the entrance they came in at. His red eyes stared right through the two. Sonic instinctively got in front of Rainbow.

"Well Neo, long time no see." Sonic said, trying to keep his cool.

"Yes, it has been a while, my weaker copy. And it seems that you have found the Emerald for me." He said pointing at the Emerald. Sonic put the Emerald behind his back and smiled.

"Oh, well you know me, always trying to be helpful." He responded as he tried to look for an escape route. Neo could see that Sonic was trying to stall him until he figured out a way out.

"Yea, well I know you're trying to figure out an escape route, but you know as well as I do that this hallway is the only way out. Now if you give me the Emerald, I might only leave you two with a few broken bones." He said as he held out his hand for the Emerald. Sonic was sweating.

 _Neo isn't playing around. I need to find a way to get Dash and me out of here. I can't let him hurt Dash._ Sonic thought to himself. Neo wasn't moving, but kept his hand out as he took a step forward.

"Don't make me repeat myself, hedgehog. Give me the Emerald. I know that you treasure that little pony behind you, so if you don't want her to get hurt, I suggest you give me that Emerald." Neo demanded. Sonic was starting to panic, knowing that his time was running out.

 _If I give Neo the Emerald, he'll be that much more powerful, and harder to stop. But if I don't, he might hurt Rainbow. And I can't let that happen, no matter what._ Sonic thought. Before Sonic could make a decision, Rainbow walked up beside Sonic and got into a fighting stance.

"Hey metalhead, if you want the Emerald you'll have to get through us first." She shouted at Neo. Neo put his hand down and glared at the two.

"You'd best watch that mouth of yours, pony. You don't seem to comprehend how tragic the situation you're in is." He said angrily.

'Yeah yeah, tragedy whatever, are we doing this or what?" She mocked him. Neo's hands then became engulfed with the green flames of Chaos Energy.

"Grave mistake." He said. Sonic was looking at Rainbow in shock at what she was doing.

"RD, are you sure about this? Neo's not someone to take lightly. I mean, you saw how he was able to injure Soler in his dark form." He said to her.

"What's wrong hedgehog? Are you getting cold feet?" She teased him. "He might be stronger, but we're faster, and there's two of us. I know that we can handle him. "She walked in front of him.

"Plus you know as well as I do that we're not going to get out of here without a fight. So let's do this together." She said as she looked back at him with a confident smirk. Sonic looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah, you're right. Just what was I thinking. When we work together, nothing can stop us." Sonic said as he walked up beside her and got into a battle stance. The two sides both stared at each other, waiting for the other to move. A piece of ice fell from the ceiling. The battle began as the ice struck the ground.

"Rainbow Scatter!" Sonic said as he and Rainbow both sped off in opposite directions. Neo watched the Rainbow Trail being created by Rainbow and started locking onto her. Even though she was flying fast, he was able to lock on and was aiming his attack at her.

"Die." He said. Before he could release the attack, Sonic came up and punched him from the side, throwing off his aim. He glared blades at the blue hedgehog, who only saluted and dashed back off. Before Neo could chase him, Dash came at him full force with a powerful buck to the face, sending him back a few feet. She flew to where Sonic stopped by her and did a hoof/fist bump. Neo got up and they watched as the dent in his head from the buck repaired itself.

"You'll both burn!" He said. The two speedsters chuckled.

"You gotta catch us first." Sonic said as the two scattered once again. Neo decided to do a widespread attack and started to shower the area with blasts from his hands. Sonic and Rainbow dodged the blasts with ease. Sonic charged right in at Neo once he got an opening, which Neo noticed immediately. Neo charged a blast at the hedgehog full force, but Rainbow flew in the way of his shot which threw off his aim as he blasted at the ceiling. He glared at her angrily, then turned his attention back to Sonic, receiving a face full of shoe as Sonic dropped kicked him some distance. Neo got up to counter attack, but was hit again by Rainbow and a buck to the side. He sent a wild shot in her direction, but Sonic came up from behind him and spin dashed him in the back. Neo's fury towards the two was grew unabatedly. Sonic and Rainbow's speed was getting the best of Neo as the two were able to keep their pace and aggression with their attacks. Neo realized that he wasn't going to hit them one at a time, so he waited until they both got close for one last attack. Sonic and Rainbow both saw that Neo was almost defeated and both charged in for their final attack. The two were just a few feet from him when Neo struck.

"Chaos Blast!" He shouted as he pushed both speedsters away from each other. Sonic skidded on his side as the Emerald laid next to him. Sonic groaned as he stood up from taking the attack full force. He looked around for Neo but saw no sign of him, or Rainbow.

"Looking for something, hedgehog?" He heard Neo remark. He looked up and his eye's widened in horror at the site. Neo held Rainbow by the neck as they floated in the air. Sonic gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He was about to take a step but Neo tightened his grip on the rainbow-maned pegasus. Rainbow struggled under the grip as he was collapsing her lungs. "Don't take another step if you want her live. Now give me the Emerald and I'll spare her life." Neo demanded as he held his hand out again.

"Don't do it, Sonic." Rainbow barely said as Neo grip didn't loosen. "Don't let him get the Emerald, no matter what. Even if it costs me my life." She continued to struggle for air. Sonic's mind was racing, and his heart was beating fast, knowing that Rainbow's life was at stake.

 _Dammit! What do I do? I can't let him kill Rainbow here, nor can I let him get the Emerald. What do I do?_ He thought to himself. He looked between Rainbow and Neo, neither pleased with the hedgehog's indecisiveness.

"Let me make the decision easier for you." Neo started to tighten his grip slowly and Rainbow started to squirm in his grip, "Give me the Emerald." He said coldly. Sonic was panicking, but knew what he had to do.

"Stop! I'll give you the Emerald! Just, let her go." He said. Neo lessened his grip on her.

"As expected. Now, the Emerald." He said with his hand held out. Sonic threw him the Emerald, just as promised,

"Now let Dash go." He said. Neo caught the emerald and let the power surge through him, he put the Emerald next to the other one in his chest. He glared at Sonic.

"Yes, as agreed. I will give you back this pony." He said, then he stabbed Rainbow right in the stomach with his claws. Rainbow cried in pain as blood could be seen running from where he punctured her. Sonic's mouth gaped in horror at the display. Neo removed his hand and dropped her to the ground. A solid thud. Sonic scrambled over to her body and held her close, tears forming in his eyes. Rainbow's eyes were closed and he couldn't tell if she was breathing.

"Rainbow. Rainbow! Please, wake up." He said, tears now falling from his eyes. They landed on her face, but she didn't move at all. He held her close to him as he silently cried in her mane. Neo watched the spectacle and laughed. This made Sonic give his look-alike a death glare.

"Well, I got what I wanted. And you got what you wanted, a fair trade. So I'll be off to get the others. See you around hedgehog, and enjoy your gift." He said before he teleported out of there. Sonic went back to Rainbow as he held her close and was still crying. That's when Rainbow started to stir in his arms. He stop his crying and pulled her back to see her face.

"Rainbow! You're okay!" He said with glee. Rainbow didn't respond, her mane was blocking her eyes from him. He smiled worriedly at her, "Come on Rainbow, talk to me." He said. Rainbow spoke softly.

"Pathetic." She said. Sonic couldn't hear her.

"What did you say?" He queried. She got out his hold on her and backed away from him.

"You're pathetic!" She shouted. Sonic was taken back from her words.

"What do you mean?" He responded. She stood up. Sonic began feeling a weird energy coming off of her. Her wounds from where Neo stabbed her, and her coat and mane started to turn a darker color.

"You pathetic hedgehog! Your weakness sickens me, and needs to be erased." She said. That's when she looked up at him and Sonic was in shock to see that her pupils and disappeared, her mane had become a sickening black, and her coat a darker shade of blue. Sonic stood and backed away.

 _It's not possible. She looks just like what I do when I go dark, but how? She shouldn't be able to do this. It had to have been when Neo stabbed her._ He thought. Rainbow flew up into the air and hovered above him as she smiled wickedly.

"Now it's time to squash a rat." She said. And before Sonic could react, a bolt of lightning struck him from out of nowhere, sending him into a wall. He stood up shakily, but before he could do anything, another bolt struck him. He hit the ground hard, laying on his stomach, hardly awake. Rainbow landed in front of him, smiling at him. The last thing Sonic saw was a tear running down the side of the face of the smiling Rainbow before he passed out.

 **(P.O.V. none, Medic Room)**

"Yeah, that's all I remember." Sonic said. The room was quiet as everyone was taking in the new information. Soler was deep in thought about Sonic's story.

 _If Neo can pump negative Chaos Energy into living beings, then we might have a problem. A huge problem._ He thought to himself. Cadance and Shining were thinking too. They had never met or heard of this Neo, but from Sonic's story to the damage he did to the two, they knew he was not someone to take lightly. Sonic could look at their faces and see how distraught they were. He glanced over at Rainbow. She wasn't looking any better, being that he still couldn't see her eyes as she looked at the sheets. It was an uncomfortable silence, for no one knew what the next move was going to be. Then, a guard come into the room, breaking the silence.

"Princess Cadance, Captain Armor, there are urgent matters that need your attention." He said. The couple looked at each other, then back at the group as they stood.

"We're sorry to have to leave you, but duty calls." Cadance said.

"Yes, we're sorry we have to leave. I wish I could stay and help, but I trust you will get things under control." Shinning said as he walked out. Cadance stopped at the door,

"Oh and you two may stay as long as you need to." She said sweetly before leaving them. The small group in the room remained still, not knowing what to say. Soler sighed and stood up.

"Well, there's no use staying here and worrying about Neo's next move. Right now, we just need to get to the others and make sure they're okay. Once we're all together again, we'll come up with a plan to stop him." Soler said. Sonic nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but I don't think we'll be up to help anytime soon. So it's up to you man, and I know you can do it." Sonic said as he gave him a thumbs up. Soler nodded as he was leaving the room.

"Did you miss on purpose?" A shaky voice said. Both hedgehogs looked to Rainbow who was still looking at her sheets. Soler stopped in his tracks and faced her.

"What did you say RD?" He asked. Her ears twitched.

"Did you miss on purpose?" She repeated.

"Of course I did."

"But why?" She asked him. He took a moment to think about the question, trying to be careful with how he responds. Sonic quietly watched them. He turned a saddened gaze on Rainbow.

 _Rainbow._ He thought. Soler still hadn't responded and Rainbow was getting restless, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I missed because you're my friend and I wouldn't ever hurt a friend. And I knew that you weren't in control of yourself, just like Sonic knows." He told her. She didn't move much, only slumped even more. Soler sighed and gave a look to Sonic. "Well I gotta go to the next Emerald, and hopefully find our friends. See ya. And get better." The white hedgehog dashed out. The room was quiet with his departure, neither of the two speaking. Sonic looked over to her, who continued to stare at those sheets.

"Rainbow…" Was all he could say before she went back under her covers, starting to silently cry. His ears wilted, sorrowful to see her this way. But he knew that saying anything now wouldn't help her.

 _Well this ch. is done. I liked this chapter, and I like going into the drama genre, it's interesting. Well, I'm hoping you guys are enjoying the story so far. This first arc is going to last for a while, so buckle in. As you can tell, I didn't know what to say… Hehe. Well anyway, this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	16. Chapter 16

_All of the lights! All of the lights!_

 _ **Chapter 16: Arachnophobia**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

Soler ran all the way from the Crystal Empire to a desert a few miles away from Appleloosa. A tattered black cloak covered his head and face as it flowed while he made his way through the blowing sand. He had been walking through the hot winds of the desert for a while, without seeing any signs of the Emerald, or his friends.

 _Man, where could they be?_ He wondered before noticing something that almost looked like a pyramid in the distance. He ran for the land mass as best as he could with the wind kicking sand in his face. Once he got on top of a sand mound, he looked down at what he thought was a pyramid, surprised to see that it was another temple. _Another one? Why would_ _a temple_ _be here?_ Another gust of wind smacked him in the face, cutting off his train of thought. He covered his face as best he could while he made his way to the temple.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Desert Temple)**

The inside of the temple kept out the wind and sand as Soler made his way in. He lowered the hood of his cloak off his head and mouth off as he looked around. The temple resembled the temple on the mountain with similar its inscriptions. Soler looked at the inscriptions and took notice that there were some of the same symbols.

 _I wonder what these symbols mean_ _,_ he thought. He pushed the thought out of his mind and continued forward. He went through a doorway and was amazed by what he saw. The inside of this temple was way bigger that the mountain temple. There were doorways and paths everywhere, none looking like direct paths to the Emerald. He sighed.

"Welp, this will be more of a pain than I want it to be." He said. His ears perked when he thought he heard some clicking, but when he looked around, he didn't see anything. He shrugged it off and went down a path, hoping it would lead him to the Emerald, or maybe his friends. Soler had been traversing the temple for a while now, but he seemed to only get himself lost deeper and deeper in the temple.

"Man, this place should not be this confusing. I wonder if Knuckles and AJ could have gotten lost. They might be roaming the halls as we speak!" He said to himself. He shook his head, "Nah. Knuckles might be a hothead, but he's a pretty good treasure hunter." SOler continued his way into another open area. He sighed, seeing all the paths that were left to choose, when he heard that clicking noise again. But this time, it sounded more like scuttling. He slowly turned around and it was evident that his face held nothing but pure fear at to what he saw. Eight big eyes were slowly crawling down from the wall behind him, eight long hairy legs, with a big thorax. Soler was paralyzed with fear as a monstrously sized spider was crawling down towards him with its saliva-dripped fangs. If there was one thing that Soler was afraid of more than anything, it was spiders. The bigger they were, the scarier they were to him. The size of this spider was the size of a car and it was moving towards him with the speed of one.

 _Why_ _? W_ _hy does it have to be spiders_ _?_ He mentally complained. He remained motionless, too afraid to do anything. The spider was on the same level with him and it was right on him. Its pincers were wide open and ready to chomp on his head. Right before it bit, he instinctively ducked down and out of the way. He snapped out of his fear and did a backflip to distance himself from it. The spider looked angrily at him, and screeched. With the last bit of courage he had, he did the best next option. Run. The spider was kept pace with him, but it was mainly because Soler was cutting so many corners that he couldn't gain speed. _Shoot_ _! S_ _hoot_ _! S_ _hoot! Gotta find the_ _E_ _merald and get away from this spider!_ Hescreamed in his head.

The chase caused Soler to grow even more lost in the temple, and the spider wasn't giving up its chase. He looked frantically for an escape, and was fortunate enough to see a doorway too small for the spider to fit through. He focused back to where he was headed and just barely did a quick ninety degree turn to avoid the pit in front of him. The spider wasn't as lucky as he was. It tried to make the turn, but it skidded over the side, screeching. Soler stopped and smiled, thinking he had gotten away from it.

"Huh? Looks like I didn't even need to go through the door." He said. His eyes widened when he heard the scurrying yet again. He looked over the side to see that it was crawling up along the side of the wall. He started to run again, just in time, as it caught back up to him and was on his tail. Soler gave it his all towards the doorway as the spider grew closer, its pincers open and ready to strike. Right before it could catch the hedgehog, its face slammed into a wall as Soler had made it to the doorway and out of its clutches. He turned around to see it struggling to get him with one of its legs swiping at him. He smirked and blew a raspberry at it, "Ha! And you actually thought you were going to catch this hedgehog." Soler was beyond ecstatic in his triumph. Before he started to walk away, the spider retracted its leg, then it made one of the most ungodly noises Soler had ever heard as it screeched with all its might. It was so loud, Soler had to cover his ears. Once it was over, everything went silent as it went away. Just then, Soler heard what sounded like a lot of little pins clicking on the ground, and all around him. A massive, endless horde of smaller black spiders were crawling on the walls, ceiling, and floor, all coming after Soler. His eyes shrunk, then he turned and dashed away as fast as he could. The spiders were keeping up with him the whole time, no matter which way he turned, they were right on him. And the tunnel seemed to go on forever.

"Where's the damn Emerald!" He shouted. He looked back to see the spiders were slowly gaining on him. He made another right and this time, the tunnel had windows on the left side of the wall, almost like a walkway. He looked out them while he ran and saw that there was a bridge over a black abyss. He smirked with his newfound his exit, but then out of nowhere, a large spider leg came sweeping through the window as the large spider from before had caught up. He barely ducked under the swipe. The large spider screeched and crawled along the outside. He saw that there was a door coming up, but the smaller spiders were getting too close. He charged up two Spears and threw them at the ceiling before him. The tunnel started to collapse, but with his speed, he easily made it under the falling rubble. Soler didn't stop to look at his handy work, knowing that it would only slow them down. He made his way to doorway and saw that it lead to the bridge he saw earlier. He stopped and peered over the edge and saw that it was only a black abyss under the bridge, with no sign of light, or a bottom. He slowly began his trek across the bridge, fearing that his weight might collapse the bridge under him. He had made it a quarter of the way before he heard a screech he knew all too well. He turned back to see that the big spider had caught up and was trying to cross the bridge.

"Great, it can't get any worse." He said. The smaller spiders immediately came crawling out of the door and were now back on the hunt for the white hedgehog. "Okay, it's possible. Can't get any worse!" As luck would have it, another one of the bigger spiders crawled down from the wall joined in the chase. Soler was dumbfounded by how many there were, but didn't stop. Now, he had started to run on the bridge to get to the other side. He had a lead on them, but with the added weight of all of those spiders, he could feel that the bridge was starting to give. The spiders must not have noticed, or didn't care, because they didn't slow their pace. Soler pushed himself as he just made it to the other side. He looked back to see that the spiders were almost on him. He charged another pair of Chaos Spears and started to throw them at the bridge with all he had. The spiders saw this and picked up pace. The first two didn't make the bridge collapse, so he bombarded the bridge with Spears.

 _Just fall dang it!_ He thought. The spiders were right on him, ready to pounce. But a miracle happened, the last Spear he threw was it. The bridge started to crumble almost immediately and the spiders fell into the pit. Soler looked over the edge and could see them all falling and hearing the screeching while they descended into the darkness. He fell to his butt as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, those things just wouldn't give up." He said to himself, "And those things weren't normal." Soler stood up and looked at the entrance before him and entered.

The path he walked started out lit with torches, but as he continued the darkness grew. Soler took one of the torches from the walls and continued on through. The longer he went, the stranger the feeling he developed about the area, as if something worse that those spiders was right before him. He then noticed a weird glow coming from a room before him. As he got closer, a sudden breeze put the torch out. He walked out of the area and saw that he was on a perch, looking down on an even darker area, whatever it was. He looked down to see that there was some weird green glowing sacks in places around the room.

 _What is this place?_ He wondered. He looked down and discovered that there was something wrapped up in what looked like a web cocoon. He didn't trust the area, so he put the hood of his cloak on once again, hoping to be sneaky. He quietly jumped down from the ledge, landing on his feet and hands like a cat, noiselessly. He checked the area around him and carefully made his way to the cocoon. He tried pulling on it, but fearing that it would break, he did the next best thing. He created a Spear and start to cut at it. At first, nothing happened. But once he put some effort into the cutting, a piece of string broke. From the broken first string, he felt the rest of the cocoon's strings loosen. He started to work on the rest as it became easier to break the strings. Once he broke off a few strings from the top, he noticed a lot of red was showing. His eyes widened as he franticly cut more off to reveal a sleeping Knucklehead.

"Knuckles! Knuckles, wake up." He said, shaking the red echidna. When the shaking proved ineffective, he smirked and cracked his knuckles. "Sorry about this buddy." Soler reeled back and gave him a powerful smack across the face. Knuckles' eyes immediately snapped open, filled with confusion, then a sudden rage. He turned to Soler's face, clearly enraged. Soler pulled down his hood, smiling slyly.

"Morning sleepy head." He said.

"WHY DID YOU SLAP ME!" He shouted. Soler was scratching the back of his head.

"Well, you weren't waking up. So I had to do something." He responded. Knuckles was about to shout again but stopped and looked around to see his surroundings and then started to panic.

"Where is Applejack?" He asked.

"I don't know buddy. You were the only one I found so far. What happened here?"

"Never mind that. You need to get me out of here so we can get Applejack before that thing returns again." He said franticly. Soler didn't know what he meant but then, he looked down and found Applejack's hat on the ground. He looked up to Knuckles and noticed that his friend's eyes had shrunk and he was looking up. "Oh. Now it's back."

Soler looked up and his heart skipped a beat when he saw a spider that almost took up the whole room coming down towards him from the ceiling. Its huge eyes were an unnatural green, its thorax bearing a weird pattern on it as it also glowing green. Soler was shaking intensely, for the spiders he had escaped earlier were nothing compared to this one. He then noted that there was another web cocoon hanging behind it and he could see that a yellow tail was slightly sticking out. His fear went away as his hero mode kicked in.

"AJ's up there and I need to get to her now." He said as he put his hood back on before he jumped on a ledge above Knuckles.

"Wait! How am I supposed to get out?" He shouted when Soler sent a Chaos Spear down towards Knuckles, which cut through the strings and set his right arm free.

"Just use that, I need to get her down." He said as he jumped towards the spider. It spit out some weird green liquid at him. He dodged it and did a homing attack at its head. It didn't seem to do much to it as it swung one of its legs at him and smacked him down to the ground. He groaned as he stood up and looked to realized that it was still in its position.

 _It's_ _trying to keep me from her. But why?_ He thought. Just then, the spider landed on a wall and started to form a giant web ball. Soler started his way back up to AJ as the spider threw the ball. Soler barely darted out of the way of the ball as it smashed into the wall behind him. He jumped up on another ledge and attacked.

"Chaos Hailstorm!" He shouted, then a barrage of small projectiles hit the spider in the face. Soler's goal was to blind the spider long enough to get to Applejack. The attack hit one of its eyes and the beast screeched in pain and Soler saw his chance and went for it. Soler jumped with all his might to reach her but right before he could get her, the spider recovered and smacked him down again. He then threw a Spear at the string holding the cocoon and it sliced right through it. It fell aimlessly as Soler caught it. He landed on the ground and saw that Knuckles had gotten himself free. He smirked.

"Time to get out of here, Knuckles." He shouted. Knuckles nodded and grabbed AJ's hat. They tried to get to the exit, but the spider jumped down from the wall and blocked their path.

"It looks mad." Knuckles pointed out.

"You can say that again." Soler added. He got an idea in his head on how to stop this thing. "Knuckles, catch!" He shouted and threw AJ to him. Knuckles caught her, surprised.

"What are you planning?" He asked. Soler only smirked and gave him a thumbs up. Soler focused back on the spider, he needed it to follow him. He threw a Spear at another of its eyes, a direct hit. The gigantic spider screeched in pain and looked at him angrily.

"Catch me if you can!" Soler mocked as he jumped back up on the ledge, gaining height. The spider crawled up the wall to follow him. Soler was climbing at a decent pace as he was almost at the top of the room. The spider was constantly spitting the green liquid at him in hopes of hitting him. He was doing his best to dodge each attack, as he sent Spears at it, striking some part of his head or back without doing much damage. Once he got high enough, he put his plan into motion.

He landed on the ceiling of the room and looked down at the spider. It was still coming at him with its green eyes glowing and saliva coming out of its mouth. Soler put all of his strength in his legs as he boosted off the ceiling towards the spider. He curled up into a ball as he plummeted at the spider. It tried to stop him by shooting web balls at him, but they only bounced off of him as the air started to swirl around him, glowing a bright blue from the speed he was picking up. He hit the spider right in the middle of its back as they both went crashing towards the ground. They hit the ground hard, with the spider screeching in pain from Soler still pressing into its back. He bounced back off from its back as its legs went limp.

Soler landed on his butt near Knuckles. A shocked Knuckles stared at what he witnessed.

"How did you do that?" He asked. Soler was panting slightly.

"Well, I don't know. I just figured that it was weak in the back." He said, the exhaustion visible on his face. The two sat in silence as their nerves calmed. Soler stood up and looked at Knuckles, "Now, with the last bit of Chaos Energy I have left, let's get outta here."

 **(P.O.V. none, Crystal Empire)**

It was another brilliant night in the Crystal Empire as everypony was sound asleep, except for one Pegasus. In the medic wing, a sleeping blue hedgehog, and a wide awake Pegasus. She laid under her covers, quiet as a mouse, but wide awake, too afraid to go back to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, the memories of when she was corrupt and attacked her friends would playback in her head. She could see everything so vividly and remember everything she said, word for word. She could see when she stood over Sonic, looking down on his horribly injured form, sprawled and barely awake. It was all from her. That's what broke her the most.

She had learned from that incident just how much she actually cared for the blue hedgehog, and knowing how she felt only made her heart hurt more, for all the pain she caused him. She started to tear up as she could remember hitting him full force with that lighting, and her smiling from his pained face. Rainbow got up from her bed and made her way to the balcony outside their room.

Unannounced to her, the other resident in the room had awoken to the sound of her hooves hitting the floor. Sonic did his best to stay quiet as he turned to see her at the balcony, looking up at the moon.

 _Rainbow…_ He thought as he did his best to stay silent whilst getting up from his bed to get closer to her. When his feet touched the cold floor, he shuddered a bit, _Man, this floor is cold._ But he shrugged it off as slowly crept up behind her. Rainbow was deep in her thoughts, unaware of the hedgehog no more than a few feet behind her. He was about to approach her, but then her heard her slightly sobbing. He could see tears hitting the floor as she cried.

 _Rainbow…_ Sonic thought to himself.

"Why didn't I stop myself?" She cried. Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of her voice. "Why couldn't I stop myself? I could feel myself doing the action before it came… Why didn't I just warn him? I'm so pathetic, so weak." Rainbow cried more, the tears steadily flowing down her cheeks. Sonic's ears wilted from hearing her cry.

"How could he ever have feelings for me now? Or even trust me?" She sobbed. Once Sonic heard this, he came from his hiding place and walked up behind her. She didn't even notice his approach.

"Rainbow." He said. Hearing his voice made her lift her head up as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"Sonic, you should be in bed." She said through sniffs. The back of her head still faced him, not wanting for Sonic to see her so distraught.

"I should be telling you the same." He said. Then a breeze blew through, and he shivered, "Plus, it's kinda chilly out. So why are you out here anyway?" She still didn't look at him.

"Well, Luna made a nice night out tonight, and I wanted to enjoy it a bit." She said. Sonic could hear in her voice that she was trying to keep up the act, that she wasn't hurt, but she wasn't doing the best of jobs. He thought of a way to get her to say how she really feels.

"Yeah, Luna does make some beautiful nights." He started as he walked up next to her and put his arms on the railing. She did her best to make her mane block her eyes from him. Sonic sighed then continued, "Hey Rainbow, I heard that Luna once tried to take over Equestria. Is that true? Because personally, I don't believe she would." She nodded her head.

"Man, that's a surprise to say the least, but I think it's cool how she's here now and everyone loves her, ya know? Even though she might've done bad things in her past, she's been given a second chance to do right, and is even loved by the others again." He said. Rainbow started to tear up again, and tears were starting to fall down her face. "Yeah, I mean, I feel like everyone deserves a second chance. Even if they did wrong in the past, everyone deserves friendships… And even love." He looked down at her, smiling. Her mane was still blocking her eyes, but Sonic could hear her crying, so he placed his hand on her face and moved her mane out of the way to see her magenta eyes, watered up. She looked up at him with the tears spilling over.

"Sonic… I'm… I'm so, so, sorry. I could feel and see everything I was doing, I just couldn't stop myself. Please, please forgive me." She said shakily. He only smiled as he pulled her to his chest, stroking her mane.

"I know Rainbow, I don't blame you. I'm just glad you're back here with me, safe and sound." He calmly said. Rainbow eyes widened, and unable to hold it in anymore, she started wailing. Her face dug in his chest, and the tears just fell. The two sat on the ground as Sonic just held her, letting her cry. He stroked her mane while she cried. And as her crying slowed down, Rainbow looked up at him, her eyes watery.

"Sonic, I have to tell you something." She started. He looked down at her.

"What's up?" He responded. She seemed to blush a little with a sniffle.

"I… think I love you." She said. He smirked as he pulled her face close to his.

"Funny. I think I love you too." He replied as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss. Her eye widened for a moment, closing as she melted into the kiss. The moon was shining brightly on that wonderful, perfect, night.

 _*Sniff* Chapter 16 *sniff* in the bag. This chapter got a little sappy at the end, but I think It was a sweet moment between our speedsters. I_ _just wanna give you all a_ _heads up, I know I keep changing my posting schedule but I'm doing it again, so chapters might be getting uploaded a lot closer to each other_ _… A_ _nd I think I might wait one day to post a few all at once. Yeah, so hopefully I don't overwhelm you guys._ _A_ _nd_ _i_ _f I do, sorry! :(. So this is, Solerwolf OUT!_


	17. Chapter 17

_The world is yours! Wait, never mind, wrong story…_

 _ **Chapter 17: Back to the Castle**_

 **(P.O.V. none,** **Appleloosa** **)**

Soler finished cutting off the last of the webbing that Applejack was wrapped in.

"There we go, now you're free." He told her. She moved her hind leg, making sure all of it was off. Once satisfied, she smiled and turned to Soler.

"Mighty kind of ya partner." She said. After Soler had defeated the spider, he teleported them to Appleloosa since it was the closest place his powers would send them. Once there, they found Braeburn and went to the closest thing the town had to a hospital, and have been receiving treatment since then. Applejack seemed to be completely unharmed from getting wrapped up, but Knuckles was much more tired than she was, almost as if he was drained. The bags under his eyes were clear to see, which caused Soler to wonder. When Soler had found him, he was sound asleep. Knuckles sat on a stool near the window, watching AJ trot around a bit, doing one last check for webbing.

"Glad to be out of there," Knuckles started before he yawned, "It was getting stuffy in there."

"You're right on that Knux. It was tighter in that there cocoon than it is when the barn is full when the zap-apple pies are finished baking." AJ said. Soler and Knuckles looked at each other, confused, then back at her.

"Zap-apples?" They asked in unison. She smiled and nodded.

"E-yup! Zap-apples. They only come once a year, and they're Apple Family delicacies." She answered. That's when she looked at the two and could see that they both looked exhausted. "Are you two alright? You both look more tuckered out than Apple Bloom when she's been playing with her friends all day." The two Mobians looked at each other.

"Yeah Knuckles, I did notice that you look tired. I was going to ask you, but it must've slipped my mind." Soler said.

"Well, you look like you've been awake for the past five days and have had to fight each one of those days. What happened man?" Knuckles asked in return. Soler looked in a mirror.

 _It does look like I haven't slept in days_ , he thought in realization. Soler looked at his hands and tried to charge a Chaos Spear, but only got, unable to form one.

"Well, I'm guessing it's because I'm running so low on Chaos Energy." He told them. Knuckles looked at him with shock.

"Why are you running so low?" Knuckles queried.  
"Well, it's partially because I don't have an Emerald-"

"Okay, but even if you don't have an Emerald you shouldn't be looking like this. Haven't you been able to sleep or anything to recharge?" He added, interrupting Soler.

"Well if you'd let me finish, I was getting to that. I left the Emerald back at the castle with Spike and Shadow's Emerald. So I've just been going off my own energy reserve. The reason why I'm so low is because I can't charge my Chaos Energy as fast here as I can in Mobius." He finished. Knuckles humphed, but understood. Applejack was confused about all that was said.

"Uh, I beg your pardon but what does any of what you just said mean?" She asked. Soler looked up at her since he was sitting.

"It all means that since we're in a different world, I can't naturally charge Chaos Energy without an Emerald. Back in our world, Chaos Energy flows through the air, much like magic does in your world. But since I'm not in my world, the rate that I can recharge my Chaos Energy is much, much slower." He answered. That seemed to make some sense to her. Soler then brought his attention back to Knuckles. "But that doesn't explain why you look so exhausted." Knuckles rotated his arm, trying to stretch it.

"I don't know, really. I just feel really drained." Knuckles responded. Soler thought back to the spider fight and how it's eyes was glowing a weird green, and how that liquid that it kept spitting out was a weird green too.

"Hey, do we still have any of that webbing left?" He asked.

"Sure do, there's still a lot left from that a cocoon thing I was in. How are we supposed to get rid of this stuff anyway?" AJ asked as she scooted over the box that held all the webbing to Soler.

"Well, it should dissolve after a while. But we could bring it back, find a different use for it since spider silk is the strongest type of silk anywhere." He told her as he reached for a hand full of the stuff. He closed his eyes and focused on the webbing, testing his thought. At first, there was nothing weird about it, but then he felt Chaos Energy flowing through the thread. Soler sighed and put the string back with the rest.

"Yep, just like I thought. The strings are flowing with Chaos Energy, and that means Neo was there before you guys." He told them. Knuckles gritted his teeth and punched his hand.

"How did he get there before us? It's not possible." The red echidna grumbled.

 _Now that I think about it, that shouldn't be possible._ _T_ _he distance from that mountain top to the desert is at least a two day trip, even on foot. So how did he get there so fast?_ Soler wondered. AJ could see the frustration on Knuckles' face and decided to walk and sit next to him. She even laid her head on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. At first, he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice. When he did realized what she was doing, he blushed from. Knuckles looked down at her and could see how she had her eyes closed, smiling, laying on him as she basked in the sun's light.

"Uh, AJ? Why are you, uh, laying on me?" He asked. She only opened her eyes and looked up at him, which only made him blush even more. Her eyes twinkled as they caught the sunlight in her glow.

"Well you looked upset, and I hate to see ya upset so I came over." She said. "What? Do ya want me to leave?" The tan pony was feeling mischievous.

"Well… I uh… uhh…" He stuttered as his blush only deepened. Applejack laughed at his shyness. She wasn't going to lie to herself, she had grown quite fond of the echidna and she liked to just be around him. She especially found his temper tantrums adorable at times, but loved to see his smile more. While the two were having their little moment, Soler watched them, smirking. He cleared his throat.

"Well, I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I think we should be getting back to the castle. I'm sure that the others are there." He said nonchalantly. The two looked at each other, blushed, then moved away from each other.

"Yeah, you're right. We should be getting back. You look like you could use a recharge." Knuckles said as he stood up. He wobbled a bit, but caught himself. AJ looked at him worriedly.

"Yeah, and you need some rest." She said to him. The group left the hospital and made their way to the train station.

 **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**

Sonic and Rainbow had left the train station and were on their way to the castle. Sonic stretched and yawned.

"Man. Glad to be off that train, but I still think we should've just ran and flown here." He said as he put his arms behind his head. Rainbow rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Oh come on blue! Don't tell me you didn't enjoy getting to snuggle up next to this beautiful pegasus?" She teased him. He smirked and poked her side, eliciting a giggle from her.

"Ok, so I guess that was one upside. I wonder how the others will take it when we tell them that we're dating." He said aloud. Rainbow flew close to him and kissed his cheek.

"It doesn't matter how they take it. You're my stallionfriend and I'm your marefriend. We love each other and that's all that matters." She said passionately. Sonic smiled, feeling the same way. Then, he stopped, just realizing what she said.

"Wait, marefriend? Stallionfriend? What's that?" He asked. She stopped and rolled her eyes.

"It's what we are. You're my stallionfriend, and I'm your marefriend. Duh!" She said with a flip of her mane. Sonic stopped and thought about what she was saying.

 _Well stallion is a male horse, and a mare is a female horse_ _. S_ _o she must mean boyfriend and girlfriend._ He figured out.

"Oh, so you must mean boyfriend and girlfriend." He said.

"Yeah. That's what I said, stallionfriend and marefriend." She repeated.

"No, boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yeah, stallionfriend and marefriend."

"No, boyfriend and girlfriend!" Sonic shouted.

"Yeah, stallionfriend and marefriend!" Rainbow Dash shouted back. They had a brief stare down before he gave up the argument.

"You know what? I'll tell my friends that you're my girlfriend and you can tell your friends that I'm your stallionfriend or whatever it's called. Deal?" He negotiated, sticking his hand out. She thought on it and shook his hand.

"Sure thing blue boy." She consented. The two then walked along quietly for a while, then Rainbow broke the silence.

"Well names aren't important, you're my special somepony and that's all that matters." She said. Sonic's eye twitched as he was going to say something but let it go.

 _Her world, her terminology._ He told himself mentally. The two had made it to the castle and went through the doors. When they entered, they were expecting the others to be there and waiting for them. But no one was around. It was completely empty.

"Yo! Is anyone here!" Sonic shouted and listened as his voice echoed through the empty castle. Then they heard what sounded like claws running as Spike ran into the room they were in. When he saw them, he looked so happy to see them that he ran and hugged Sonic's leg.

"You guys are here! You're safe! Soler did it, he got you guys back!" He said. Sonic and RD looked at each other, then at him.

"Spike, what's going on? Where is everypony?" RD asked him. He stopped hugging Sonic's leg and looked at the two in confusion.

"You mean Soler didn't tell you what's going on?" They both nodded their heads.

"Yeah we know, but I thought he would've at least found them all by now." Sonic said. Spike and Rainbow both gave him a look that confused him, "What?"

"Well give him some slack, hedgehog. He is doing this by himself." RD said. Sonic was about to say something back but stopped when the hedgehog of the hour walked into the room with AJ and Knuckles in tow. Sonic walked up to Knuckles and peered at his exhausted face.

"Wow knucklehead, who took all the fight out of you?" He remarked sarcastically.

"Good to see you too." He retorted as the two fist bumped.

"AJ, I'm so glad you're okay. What happened to Knuckles?" Rainbow spoke to Applejack to the side.

"Well I don't much know myself, but when Soler was explaining things, it sounded like he got his energy drained or somethin. How are you and Sonic feeling? What happened on your end?" She responded. Rainbow started to remember what happened on the mountain but shook the thought out.

"Oh nothing major, I'll catch you up later. But guess what, Sonic and I are dating now." She said with glee.

"So, finally decided to pop the question, huh? Well I'm mighty happy for ya, RD." She replied. Rainbow was gleaming with pride.

"SO, what about you and Knuckles? You two a thing yet?" Rainbow asked with a bit of mischief. Applejack blushed and glanced over at the red echidna as he and Sonic talked.

"Well no, not yet." She said a little bit flustered. RD giggled.

"Don't sweat it AJ. I'm sure he'll ask you out sooner or later." She reassured her.

The small group was talking and catching up while Soler was sitting off to the side, still tired. Spike noticed this and walked over to him.

"Hey, is everything alright? You look out of it." He asked him. Soler looked at him weakly and smiled.

"Yea I'm good. Just running a little low on Chaos Energy. By the way, could you bring me one of the Emeralds?" He requested of the short purple and green dragon. Spike nodded and ran off to get an Emerald. As he left, Starlight Glimmer entered the room to see that some of her friends have returned.  
"You guys are back!" She said, smiling at them. They all looked at her and smiled back, glad to see her as well.

"Glad to see you too, Starlight." Sonic said.

"Yeah, glad to see ya." AJ said smiling

"How have ya been Star?" Rainbow asked joyfully.

"Hey." Knuckles said tiredly. Everyone gave him a glare. "What? I'm tired." Everyone laughed at Knuckles, who was still confused on what just happened. Starlight was smiling, happy to know they were back. She looked over and noticed Soler by himself, appearing depleted.

"Soler, you okay?" She asked as she walked up to him. He waved at her tiredly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just running a little low on energy. How have you been?" He answered. She walked up and took a seat next to him and went over some of the things she's done while he was away. Spike came running back with an Emerald in tow. He ran back up to Soler and handed him the Emerald. He smiled and held the Emerald close as he focussed on its power. He did a sigh of relief as he could feel his Chaos Energy returning to him. He stood up, grinning.

"Thanks Spike, I really needed that." He told the dragon as he tossed the Emerald back to him. Spike gleamed with pride. They all walked back over to the rest of the group and then around the map.

"So it looks like the next place I'm going is some jungle to get Tails and Fluttershy." Soler said as he marked it out on his map.

"Soler, you sure you don't want me to go with you to help. I'm roaring and ready to go." Sonic said. Soler shook his head.

"No, you stay and watch over thing here with everyone else. If Neo comes here, then you need guys need to be ready to fight him." He told him. Soler was about to head out but Starlight stopped him.

"At least stay and rest up and head out tomorrow." She begged of him.

"Yeah man, you could use the rest. Even though we know how important time is. you need some rest." Rainbow said. He was going to protest but thought on how he had been going off of quick naps and such. He could probably use a good night's sleep.

"Fine, I'll stay the night. But I'm leaving first thing in the morning." He caved.

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

Nighttime had come, and everyone decided to sleep at the castle tonight, even the girls. Soler had made his way to his room and was ready for a night's rest.

 _Man, maybe they were right. I do need some good sleep._ He thought to himself before he yawned. He kicked his shoes off and plopped down on the soft bed. He closed his eyes and instantly started to drift off to sleep.

Soler found himself back in the gardens at the castle, looking up at the moon. He could feel the cool wind of the night as it blew through his quills. He sighed and took a deep breath, taking in his surroundings.

"Now the only thing that could make this night better is if a certain princess would be enjoying this night with me." He said aloud.

"Do you mean this certain princess?" He heard a voice say. He looked up to see Luna floating down to him with the moon shining brightly behind her. He smiled at her presence.

"Well I did mean Celestia, but I think you're a better choice." He teased. She giggled in at his remark.

"Well I'm glad that I can be a better choice than my sister." She responded. She floated down and stood next to him. "May I sit?" He nodded and motioned for her to sit next to him. The two sat in silence, enjoying each other's company, and the night.

 _Man, I wish the real Luna was here. But since this is a dream_ ,Soler thought proceeding to wrap his arm around her, drawing her into him. At first, she was surprised by his sudden movement and blushed, but then she relaxed and laid her head on his chest. The two sat this way for a long time as they enjoyed each other.

"Man I wish this was the real Luna." Soler said aloud. That's when Luna giggled.

"But I am the real Luna." She said.

"Sorry, but this is a dream. The real Luna is probably out enjoying the real night." He said. Luna giggled even more.

"Well yes, that is what I normally what I would be doing. But tonight, I decided to pop in on your dream and see how your quest was going." She replied. Soler froze when she mentioned the mission he was on. Only the real Luna would know about that. She could feel his body tense up, which made her get up and look at him.

"What's the matter?" She asked him. He remained frozen with shock and embarrassment from what he did, so much so that his whole face reddened, a lot. Luna looked at him with curiosity, for she had never seen him like this. She slowly moved her hoof and poked him on the cheek. Instead of him snapping out of it, he just slowly toppled over on his side in the same position. She was befuddled by his behavior, so she did the next best thing she could think of to wake him up. Her horn lit up as she conjured up a bucket of ice water above him. She poured the water on him without mercy, and when the cold water hit his face, he snapped out his funk so fast that he hopped into the air. Luna laughed at him as he hopped around.

"So cold! Why would you do that!" He shouted. Luna had to make herself stop laughing before she could answer.

"Well, you wouldn't snap out of it when I poked you, so I did the next best thing." She told him. He glared at her, but just started smiling, and let it go.

"So wait, you're really here? Like, really here?" He asked. She smiled and nodded her head. "But how?"

"Well, I am the princess of the night, which means I can lower and raise the moon. But I can also go into others' dreams while they sleep." She explained. He didn't try to understand her magic, so he just accepted it for what it was.

"So you came here to see how I've been." Soler asked her. They were now sitting out in some meadow since it was still a dream. Soler could change the scenery like this.

"Yes, it has been a while since you have sent me a letter or since I have heard from you. So I wanted to see how you've been and how your quest is going." She said. Soler nodded.

 _It has been a long time since we've talked_ , He figured.

"Well, you see… Here's how things have been…" Soler said as he told Luna of everything he's gone through in these past few days. By the time he was done, Luna was amazed at all that's happened. And she could see on his face that he had something on his mind.

"So I guess now that you know Neo is on the move, you are worried about his movements?" She asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I've faced Neo in the past before, so I think I have a good idea of his patterns. But this time, everything he's done has been unpredictable. He corrupted Rainbow, then he corrupted a spider den. I just don't know what his ultimate goal is, which worries me." He confided to her. She could see how much this was worrying him and hated to see him that way.

"So have you told your friends about these thoughts?" She asked. He shook his head.

"No. They're already worried, I don't want to add on anymore of it." He said.

"SO that's why you act like nothing's wrong around them. To protect them from fearing the unknown."

"Yeah." He answered. The two sat in silence, the mood a bit low. Luna looked at the hedgehog and could see just how deep in thought he was, even in his sleep. He never stopped working, but as she looked into his eyes, she could see that there was something else bothering him. Besides Neo. He could feel her staring at him and he looked at her.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to stare, but I have a feeling that there is something else bothering you more than Neo is." She told him. His eyes widened and he looked away.

"No, Luna. There's nothing else." He replied. He knew that he was lying, but he couldn't tell her the truth about what he was thinking. Luna could also tell that he was lying to her, but she persisted on in finding out why he was lying.

"You know you're a bad liar. Soler please, just tell me what it is that's on your mind. I hate to see you wrapped up in thought so." She told him. He looked into her eyes and studied them. He always seemed to get lost in her eyes whenever she was around him, especially when the moonlight seemed to make them glisten. He sighed, knowing that he couldn't resist those eyes.

"Okay. I'm just worried about you." He told her. Luna flushed when he said this.

"What is it that's making you worried about me?" She asked.

"It's not you in particular, but I'm more or less worried about your safety, with Neo out there and all. He might have more than one of the Emeralds, his power could be off the charts. I don't want him to hurt you, and since this time his pattern is so unpredictable, it makes me even more worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. If you did, I'd never forgive myself for it." He finished. Luna was so stunned by how much he cared for her, it warmed her heart. She caught him off guard again with a surprise hug. He blushed and his eyes grew.

"What's this for?" He asked her.

"It's because I have someone like you worrying about me. It makes me feel special." She told him as she began to separate herself from him. "You know that I don't want you to get hurt either. If you did, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself either, so make sure you stop Neo. Okay?" He blushed, then smirked and straightened himself up, feeling more confident after hearing Luna's words of encouragement.

"Yeah, I promise that I'll stop Neo, no matter the cost. And thanks Luna." He told her. She smiled and stood up.

"Now it's time for you to wake up. So remember, I'm always believing in you." She told him, then everything went white and Soler's was blinded. When he opened his eyes, he could see that the sun was barely coming up. He put his hand over his heart, feeling the warmth of Luna's support. With that, he got out of bed, put his shoes on, grabbed his stuff, and headed out of the castle before the others had awoken.

 _Another chapter done. Oh man we_ _'_ _re getting close to the chapter I've been dying to write for the longest time. I'm sooo excited! Anywho, like always_ _,_ _please don't be afraid to review and tell your friends._ _A_ _ny and all are welcome! So this is Solerwolf_ _,_ _OUT!_


	18. Chapter 18

_Yep yep yep yep…._

 _ **Chapter 18: Look Alike**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Jungle)**

Soler had rushed to the jungle before the sun had fully risen and was now making his way through the dense plant life. The more he made his way into the jungle, the denser it seemed to get, and the more wildlife seemed to be around him. It didn't help that it was very humid in the jungle. And the constant flying bugs that kept buzzing around him didn't make it any better.

"Man, why did the Emerald have to end up in a jungle?" He complained to nobody as he swatted at another fly. "I wonder if Tails and Fluttershy went through this much trouble. At this point, I just hope they're both okay." Soler knew that he had made his way into the heart of the jungle because now he was surrounded by large and tall trees. When looked up at them, they seemed to touch the clouds.

 _Man, those must go as high as a skyscraper!_ He thought, continuing through the jungle as a light rain suddenly started falling. He sighed, and shook off some of the droplets as he kept going. He eventually made his way onto a ledge that looked over a clearing in the jungle, centered around the temple he was searching for.

 _Finally made it!_ He believed, before squinting at what seemed to be something pink in one of the trees. _It can't be._ He jumped from the ledge and went towards the temple.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Jungle Temple)**

Soler had made it to the temple with little trouble. He got to the entrance and looked around for that pink he saw on the ledge. He looked all around hopelessly until he looked up a tree and saw what looked like pink hair dangling from the tree. He climbed up the tree and was relieved to see that the pink hair was connected to a yellow pegasus, asleep on a tree branch. He smiled and poked her awake.

"Fluttershy… Fluttershy. Hey, wake up." He said as he nudged her. Her eyes fluttered as she started to wake up. Soler grinned at her as she stirred, "Morning, sleepy head." At first, she just slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. But then, her eyes widened in panic, glancing around wildly.

"Where's Tails? Is he okay? I need to find him!"

"Woah Flutters. Calm yourself. Everything is fine. You're safe. I don't know where Tails is at the moment, but just relax, we'll find him." Soler said cutting off her rambling. She looked at him and he gave her a reassuring smile, which seemed to calm her down. "Good. Now take some breaths and just tell me how you got in this tree, and what happened here."

"Well I don't remember too much of what happened, but all I know is that we need to go in the temple and save Tails." She told him.

"Well yeah, I'll be going in and getting him, but I'm going to send you home. It's too dangerous out here with Neo around and…"

"No! We both need to go get him!" She shouted in interruption, catching Soler by surprise. She realized that she shouted and retreated behind her mane. "I'm sorry. I just really want to help to find Tails." Fluttershy seemed rather timid. Soler looked at her, slightly puzzled by her sudden outburst and change of character. But he let it go and smiled.

"Yeah sure, I understand how ya feel Flutters. Don't worry about it. Let's get out of this tree and go get Tails." He said to her. She smiled and the two climbed down the tree then made their way to the entrance.

 _Hmm… I don't remember Fluttershy ever having an outburst like that. Plus, she's really pushing to go with me. I'll have to watch her while we're here._ He silently noted as they entered the temple.

Soler and Fluttershy walked through the temple, which seemed to have been taken over by the plantlife, evidenced by the alarming amount of vines covering the walls, ceilings, and floors. They didn't seem natural to Soler, but Fluttershy didn't seem bothered by them in any way, so he guess that this is natural in this world.

 _Fluttershy hasn't as so much as said a word or shown any sorta signs of anything since we entered this temple._ Soler noticed uneasily as he observed the pony not seeming to be focused on finding Tails, but on something else. She strutted ahead of him through the temple as he struggled on not tripping on any of the plant life.

"Hey Flutters, have you remembered anything that happened to you guys?" He asked her as he stepped over another vine in an attempt to not trip and fall.

"No, not anything. All I know is that we need to get to Tails as soon as possible, he might be in danger." She answered without missing a beat, or turning back to see Soler peer at her with concern. He hadn't hung around Fluttershy much, but from what the other ponies and Tails have said about her, this is nowhere in her personality. He thought for a moment on what to say next.

"Okay. Well, I wonder what the others are doing. Do you think they're okay?" He asked her.

"They can handle themselves. Right now, we need to get to Tails." She responded. He squinted at her.

"Yeah, but I wonder how your animals are doing?" Soler added, sure that this would solicit some reaction, though she never flinched.

"Oh they're animals. They can fend for themselves. Right now, we need to get to Tails." She said as she kept walking.

 _Okay… I don't think that this is Fluttershy. But then, what is she? I wonder if I can sense anything from her._ Soler figured as he did his best to try and sense her energy. He's never perfected sensing other energies besides Chaos Energy, but it was worth a shot. He made sure that there were no vines coming up and closed his eyes and tried to focus on sensing her energy. He focused, but all he could sense was the strange energy of the plant life around him. He tried to focus harder to sense hers, but all he only picked up on the plants. Soler opened his eyes and glared at her.

 _Yep, that's all I needed._ He thought to himself as he followed whatever it was that was in front of him. The two walked a little further until they came to door. Soler decided to make his move.

"Hey Fluttershy, think you could slow up for a bit? There's something I want to ask you." he said as he walked up behind it. It stopped in front of the door but kept its back to him.

"What is it? Tails is just up ahea…" It was cut off by a Chaos Spear going in its back and out its chest. Its eyes went wide as it looked at the Spear that was sticking out of its chest and slowly turned to face Soler.

"Wh...wh…"

"Save it. I know you're not the real Fluttershy." He voiced coldly.

"But I am…" It stopped as he pulled the Spear out and fell to the ground, lifeless. At first, he just stared at the body, waiting for something to happen to let him know that his hunch was right and that he didn't just kill an innocent pony. Nothing happened at first, then a green ooze started to pour out of the wound as the body lost its color and almost seemed to deflate as it turned green and became almost plant-like.

Once it was done, all that was left was a puddle of green ooze and plants is the shape of a pony. Soler let go of the breath he was holding. He had been terrified that he might've been mistaken and had killed Fluttershy. He looked at the mess in front of him and squatted down and dipped his fingers in the ooze. He studied the substance and sniffed it, an earthly smell emanating from it.

"Interesting." He said to himself, then proceeding to try and sense any energy coming off it. And at first, all he picked up was the same energy from the other plants, but as he focused further, he could feel the ever-so-slight presence of Chaos Energy flowing in it. He sighed and wiped the substance on a leaf.

 _Neo's been here, meaning that Tails and Fluttershy are in trouble. This thing said that Tails is in the room behind this door._ He got up, inhaled deeply, and exhaled as he reached for the handle. He cautiously entered the room, which was suspiciously not weird. Then he noticed that Tails was tied up on a wall, his head hanging down. Soler took a few steps and Tails seemed to awaken, pulling his head up and almost beaming when he saw Soler.

"Thank goodness you came! I got caught and need help. Come over and untie me." He told Soler. Soler frowned at him, causing Tails to sweat a bit, though he held his smile, "What's the matter?"

"How did you get caught?" Soler asked seriously.

"Well, I don't remember much. I just know you need to come over and get me down." He responded but before he could say anything else, a Chaos Spear was sent through his chest and was sticking out of him. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Soler in disbelief. His face held no emotion as he stared back him. Tails couldn't say anything as the last of his life left him, and his head slumped over. Soler waited and then the same green ooze started to leak down its chest, stomach, and the wall. Then it turned into a plant-like thing just like Fluttershy did.

He walked further into the room and could see much around him. The white hedgehog looked up and could see only darkness, but he felt like there was something above him. He closed his eyes and sensed for anything, and this time, he could sense the small spark of two lives that weren't the plants. But they seemed way high up, so he threw a Chaos Spear up there and as the Spear traveled, its glow allowed him to get a glimpse of the thing up there and it wasn't pretty. Once it hit the top, he heard a pained roar, and with that the ceiling area above him lit up as green pod shaped things could be seen lighting up in a trail as it lead to a massive carnivorous plant. Its petals on the head were purple with black vine-like tendrils trailing throughout them. It seemed to be either dripping or leaking the green liquid being that it fell from the opening in the middle of its head. He looked closer and could see teeth were aligning the inner rim of the gape, opening and closing.

"Thats one big ugly plant." He thought aloud. The plant roared, and then the green sacks that aligned its body started to move and slowly open. One by one, things popped to the ground around Soler, hard. Then, they each started to rise up and take form, some starting to look like Tails, and others imitating Fluttershy's appearance as they slowly crept towards him. The part that sent a shiver down Soler's spine was that these clones didn't look complete, some didn't even have the right colors, and others didn't have all of their limbs completed, and were dragging themselves to him. The worst ones were the ones whose faces weren't finished, which were literally melting off their faces.

"Okay, so that's gonna haunt me for a long time. But right now, I need to find Tails and Flutters! I sensed them in this room, just way high up." He told himself as he looked up and could see that attached to the ceiling behind the plant was what looked like two large green pods, which were safely being protected by the massive plant. "Whelp, I got my work cut out for me."

He dodged one of the clone rejects. It fell to the ground with a smack, but kept moving for him just like the others. He charged up two Chaos Spears and started to slash away at the clones as they swarmed him, and falling down easily. But they seemed to always get back up and the worst part was that sometimes he would cut some in half and the pieces would morph with others parts. Now he was fighting truly, pathetically, atrocious monsters, some having a pony body but Tails' head attached to it, or vice versa. Soler did his best not to blow chunks as he continued his useless fight. He was growing weary, and they wouldn't stop coming. So he decided to turn his focus on just getting to the pods.

He ran and jumped off the heads of the creatures and onto the walls as he triangle jumped from wall to wall, getting higher and higher. He was closing in on the plant and it roared knowing that he was getting close. It tried to snap at him, but he dodged the snap and leapt off its head and up to the pods. Once he reached the pods, he looked into them and discovered a sleeping Tails in one, and a sleeping Fluttershy in the other. He knew he didn't have enough time to get them out, so he just cut the roots connected to the pods and grabbed onto them.

"Hang on, guys! I'm gonna get you outta here." He said when he realized that the plant was coming back to snap at him. And he jumped off the ceiling as it crashed into the ceiling. He was rocketing towards the ground, fast. He flipped himself and landed on one of the clones, splattering it. Goo was on his shoes, but he didn't care. He boosted through the rest of the clones and to the door.

He was running back down the hall when he heard the massive plant roar. Soler looked behind him and saw the wall around the door crumble as the plant chased after him. His eyes widened but he continued to run as fast as he could without dropping the pods. It was trying to catch up so it kept spitting that green ooze at Soler, who dodged them as best he could. He could see the opening of the temple and knew he was home free, but the plant wasn't letting up chase. He did a quick boost out of the temple and put down the pods carefully. He turned back to the entrance and started to bombard it with Chaos Spears. The plant saw what he was trying to do and sped up. The temple was sturdier than he thought as he amped up the power of the Spears. It finally started to crumble, and just in time, because the plant had caught up to them and rubble began to fall around it, before it could make it. It whined in pain as it was crushed to death.

Soler let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention to Tails and Fluttershy, still in the pods. He poked one and discovered it to be not only hard but also slimy. He created a Spear and pierced the pod holding Tails first. The Spear didn't go in too far, and he had to shove it into make a hole big enough for his free hand to grab onto. He grabbed onto the pod shell and while the Spear was still in it, he started to pull the pod open.

"Man! This thing! Is tough!" He heaved as he strained to open the pod. It took a while for the pod to begin to open slowly with the pulling. Eventually, the whole pod opened suddenly, which made him fall back. The ooze on the inside spilled out all on the ground, and Tails was lying on the bottom of the inside of the pod covered in the ooze, asleep. Soler picked him up and placed him out of the pod and started to try to wake him up.

"Tails. Tails. Wake up, buddy." Soler said as he shook the two-tailed, yellow fox. Tails started to stir and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up to see a smiling Soler looking at him.

"Did I miss something?" He asked groggily. Soler smirked and gave him a hug that he instantly regretted, remembering that Tails is covered in the ooze. But he didn't care because he was glad to have his little buddy back.

"Nah, you didn't miss much little buddy. But I'll catch you both up to speed once we're back at the castle and get this ooze off." He assured him. Tails looked down and realized that he was covered in some ooze and then looked to see Fluttershy in a pod. He quickly, and worriedly, scrambled to her.

"Don't worry, she's fine. Just sleeping in the pod. We're going to take her back to the castle so Knuckles can help me get her out. It was tough getting you out ya know." Tails looked a little relieved but understood.

"So let's get going back to the castle then. No time to waste." He retorted playfully. Soler grinned and walked over to the two and teleported away.

 **(P.O.V. None, Twilight's Castle)**

"I can't believe that hedgehog really left before any of us got up!" Knuckles complained. Everyone was in the dining hall, still just waking up in time for lunch.

"Well it's Soler, you should be used to it by now." Sonic told him as he took a bite of his sandwich "I just don't fo fhere he gets it fwom." Everyone in the room looked chastely at the blue hedgehog with his mouth full. He looked around confusedly and swallowed.

"What?" He asked. Everyone sighed and went back to their lunches.

"Well at least he rested up last night, so he should be ready for action at least." Starlight chimed in.

"Yeah, but he could've waited for us to get up for some backup out there," protested Rainbow.

"I agree with RD. We could've helped him out." Applejack said. Everyone quieted, thinking about the situation and eating their food. But before anyone could say anything else, Soler, Tails, and a pod popped out of nowhere and onto the table with a crash as some of the food flew off the table. Tails looked around at where they landed and glared at Soler.

"What?"

"Well, you could've not landed on the table. I mean, where are your manners?"

"Well excuse me for having to use up a lot of my Chaos Energy teleporting all the way from the jungle to here and slightly messing up my trajectory. Next time, you can do all the teleporting." Soler retorted. Before Tails could respond, he noticed everyone looking up at them in bewilderment. That's when Sonic saw Tails and hugged him, instantly regretting that decision, what with all of the ooze on Tails.

"Oh, I missed you little bro. I was worried sick." Sonic said to him. Tails returned the hug and then backed off him.

"Sonic, I'm not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah. I know. But I still worry about you, and what's with the pod thing?"

"Oh, Fluttershy is in it." Soler chimed in, eating the rest of Sonic's sandwich.

"Fluttershy is in there? Get her out!" Rainbow frantically shouted. Soler swallowed then responded.

"Don't worry, she's fine. I just need some of Knuckles' muscle to open the pod." He remarked. The echidna in question was still a little confused on what was going on, but snapped out of it when Soler motioned for him. Once Knuckles got to the pod, Soler put the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and made a Spear. He did he same thing as last time and pierced the pod with the Spear and made a hole big enough for Knuckles to grab on to. Once Knuckles grabbed on, the two proceeded to open the pod, which was a lot easier thanks to Knuckles' strength. The pod opened up and they pulled an ooze-covered Fluttershy. They only opened the pod enough to pull the yellow pegasus out so that the rest of the ooze in the pod didn't get all on the floor, then they closed it back up. They laid her on the ground and gave her some air. Tails went over and started to shake her awake.

"Hey, Fluttershy. You gotta wake up. Now!" He pleaded. He managed to get her to start move a bit, and her eyes crept open. She looked around and could see all of her friends looking at her, with hope-filled smiles.

"Oh, is something wrong?" She said. Everyone laughed and Tails hugged her to the point of blushing.

"Don't worry Flutters. We'll explain everything later. For now, we're just happy you're safe." Tails said as he broke away from the hug. Knuckles sniffed the air and cringed.

"Man, you guys could use a shower and a bath." He muttered. Soler, Tails, Fluttershy, and Sonic looked at the ooze on them and nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah, I could use a washing." Soler said.

"Well, the castle has a main washroom complete with showers and a bath house, plus all the rooms have restrooms with showers. So take your pick." Spike told them. They all nodded and went off to clean up.

Soler was the first who came back, and found the rest of them in the map room.

"So where's the last place I'm going to?" He queried as he took a look at the map, "Last place is the lake, huh. Welp, better get going." He was about to leave when he was stopped by Rainbow, who angrily flew before him.

"You're not leaving without one of us going with you." She demanded.

"Yeah, you don't have to do it alone partner. We're all here to help." AJ chimed in.

"I agree with them, I'm rested and ready to go." Knuckles added in. Soler sighed, gripped Rainbow, and placed her behind him.

"Guys, look. I'm glad you want to help me, but I got this, don't worry about it." He responded and continued on his way. Starlight stopped him and looked at him with concern.

"Soler, everypony needs help every once in awhile. And you've been doing this on your own the whole time. We want to help you." She told him, to which he sighed and smirked.

"I know you guys want to help, I really do. Just, I gotta do this on my own for now. Neo is my problem, and he's already gotten you guys involved. So I can't take any of you with me, sorry." He replied as he moved around her and out the door, but stopped for a brief moment. "Plus, you guys would only slow me down." The white hedgehog smirked and left the castle. Everyone looked defeated, unable to go with him. That's when Spike thought of something.

"Did he recharge before he left?" He wondered aloud.

"What do mean, Spike?" AJ asked.

"Well, he said he couldn't charge his energy normally, and the distance from here and the jungle is a far distance. So I'm pretty sure that he used up a lot of energy. I just hope he recharged." He finished.

"Knowing him, he probably didn't." Knuckles added.

 _That's chapter 18 folks. I'm so hype because the next chapter is one I've been waiting to write for a long long time now, and it's going to be awesome! So this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	19. Chapter 19

_I'm your friend! (P.S. read outro very important)_

 _ **Chapter 19: Soler vs Shadow**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Lake)**

Soler arrived at the lake before the day was out. He was surprised to discover the lake to be quite massive.

"Man this lake is huge! I can barely see the other side." He said in amazement. The lake might've been huge, but it was also one of the prettiest places he'd seen in this world. There was green grass growing around the lake that looked soft enough to sleep on. Trees were growing, and he could hear animals around the area too. And when he smelled the air, it was so sweet and calming that he couldn't help relaxing.

 _This place is wonderful. I really need to bring Luna here someday_. He thought to himself as he took in the view. He walked up to the lake, clear enough for him to see the bottom. When he looked deeper, he saw what looked like a temple sitting at the bottom of the lake. He shivered knowing that he had to go down there. Soler was preparing to jump in, but chickened out at the last second, and just stood there.

 _Come on, hedgehog! It's just water. It can't hurt you._ He told himself, but his fear swelled as kept staring at it, and hyping himself up wasn't working either. Then he remembered what Luna had sid to him, and how she believed in him. The white hedgehog felt himself calming down, his fear dissipating with the slowing of his racing heart.

 _Come on, Luna would be laughing at how weak your acting. Just do it!_ He proceeded once more to try and jump in again, but his nerve got the best of him yet again at the sight of the water. He sat down, ashamed of his ability to do it. Then, Soler had a thought that just might help him do it.

Soler went and found a heavy rock to weigh himself down with. His plan was to use Chaos Control with it over the temple, and to sink to the temple. It was foolproof! He smirked at his and got ready to teleport.  
 _Alright! It's now or never._ He told himself mentally, tying the rock around his waist.

"Chaos Control!" He shouted, teleporting over the lake above the temple. At first, he felt proud of his plan, but when he saw that he was surrounded by water, he instantly died on the inside as he fell with the rock into the cold water.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Water Temple)**

At least he was right about one thing, the rock made him sink faster, but now he was in the middle of the lake. Truly regrettable. Soler held his breath as he sunk to the temple, slowly getting closer. When he seemed to be right above it, Soler and the rock struck a bubble, sinking into it. He started to free-fall to the ground, fast.

 _Well that was unexpected._ He noted mentally. The whole temple was surrounded by a massive air bubble. Soler panicked as he realized he was going to hit the ground hard, and so teleported to the ground safely. He smirked at his quick thinking, when he remembered the rock and jumped out of the way right before it hit the ground where he was standing.

 _Man! That would've crushed me._ He fretted. Soler looked up and around himself to see that he was really in a massive air bubble. He felt the air and figured that it must be maintained with magic or something. There were also blue spheres hovering around the outside of the temple, giving off light. He had to admit the temple was cool, but he didn't have time to admire the temple. And so he headed inside.

The walls were aligned with unexplainable light sources, which gladdened Soler, guessing that it grew very dark in the night. The temple was pretty big and, also like the others, straightforward. There was one main hallway and plenty of corridors branching from it. He walked down the corridor and made his way into the main complex of the temple. When he made his way through the archway, it opened up to a massive main complex, large enough to fit all of Ponyville in it.

"Man, who built these temples?" He wondered aloud, cut off by a cold voice before he could say more.

"I was wondering how long I was going to have to wait until you arrived, hedgehog." Soler tightened a fist and looked up to see Neo floating down towards him with an unconscious Twilight in his arm. Soler gritted his teeth at seeing Twilight, vulnerable, in the robot's arms, but kept his cool.

"Let her go, Neo. It's me you want." Soler said. Neo looked at the pony, then he dropped her. Soler's eyes widened and he jumped to catch her before she hit the ground. He caught her and checked to see if she was still breathing, glad to see that she was.

"Her data was sufficient but not worth much." Neo said. Soler ran back to the entrance and laid her down carefully, then stalked back towards Neo, glaringly enraged.

"Neo, why are you doing all this? What's your goal in all this?" Soler demanded. Neo just looked at him, then pulled out an Emerald, to Soler's surprise.

"Well you'll just have to wait to find out. Plus right now, you've something else to be worried about." He informed him. Then Soler narrowly dodged a Chaos Spear that seemed to come out of nowhere. Then, Shadow landed behind Neo with another Spear charged in his hand.

"Shadow? What are you doing? Neo's the enemy, not me." He tried to tell him, but the black hedgehog didn't say anything. His head was down and he wasn't responsive. Soler turned back to Neo. "Neo, what did you do to him?" Neo laughed at the hedgehog.

"Oh I did nothing but bring out what he really is. Shadow, take care of this hedgehog. Oh, and here's a gift to help." He said as he tossed Shadow a Chaos Emerald. Shadow grabbed it and let the power surge through him. He looked up at Soler, and to Soler's shock, his pupils were gone and it looked like his eyes were blazing white with Chaos Energy. Whatever Neo did to Shadow, he couldn't recognize that it was Soler standing in front of him. Neo then teleported away, leaving the two hedgehogs. Shadow and Soler stared at each other, neither one making a move. Soler knew that talking would not get through his head now, since he seems too far gone, so all he could do now was smirk.

"Well. I know you enough to know that nothing I say is going to work now, so I guess I'll have to snap you out of it the old fashioned way." He said as he cracked his knuckles. Shadow understood this key and began to slowly walk towards him. Soler's smirk faded and he began to walk towards him too, forming two Chaos Spears in his hand as Shadow did the same. The two kept staring right at each other as they walked, the air itself speaking of the intense battle ahead. The two stopped in front of each other and stared. Then, with both getting one last look, they both teleported away.

 **(P.O.V. Twilight, Water Temple)**

Twilight groggily started to wake up with her vision blurred, trying to look at her surroundings. As her vision came back into focus, she could see that she was still in the water temple, and that she was alone. She slowly stood up, looking around for any sign of Shadow. The last thing she remembered was her and Shadow getting to the temple, coming into this room, and finding no Chaos Emerald. Then, she felt something hard hit her on the back of her head and everything went black.

 _Where's Shadow?_ She wondered. She was about to walk into the room, only to stop in her tracks. She could see that there was no one else in the room, but she could feel a massive amount of energy being used in the room like some battle was going on. She didn't move, trying to figure out what was happening, and then she felt a sudden wind blow her mane back.

Twilight saw Soler appear, sliding back on his feet, and Shadow across from him, glaring at Soler, with Chaos Spears in his hands. Before she could speak, the rest of the room seemed to fall apart as pieces of the room began crumbling and there were holes in the building, letting some water in. Twilight realized that her air bubble must've shrunk since she was knocked out. Her attention went back to the battle at hand, confused at why they were fighting.

Soler looked pretty beaten up, his body covered by cuts and bruises, and yet, he stood strong. Shadow looked only slightly injured, but his eyes were a blazing white, with energy trailing from the corners. Shadow charged and threw several Spears at Soler. He blocked them and charged at him, swinging both Spears downward at him, which Shadow blocked and pushed him off. They both landed and Soler immediately started to run circles around Shadow, picking up speed with each lap. Shadow tried to throw Spears at him, but Soler was going too fast for him to get a clear shot. Soler saw his chance and hit Shadow fast.

Then, he went back into the circle. His punch caught Shadow by surprise, the black hedgehog looking in the direction the punch came from, but was hit again from behind, and then again from the side, and then from in front, and so on. Soler was moving so fast that Shadow couldn't keep up with where he was going, so he was getting hit with a blinding barrage of punches that seemed to be coming from everywhere. The speed he was going created a large gust of wind rushing in all directions, blowing rubble everywhere. It seemed that Soler had gotten him with his speed, but then, Shadow started to glow red as he charged with energy. Soler could see this and picked up the speed, seeming to hope that he could stop him. But before Soler could hit him, SHadow released his attack, it was too late.

"Chaos Blast!" He shouted, and a massive pulse of energy pushed Soler all the way back as he flew up and hit the wall above Twilight. He left a dent in the wall, but fell and hit the ground hard, face-first. Twilight ran up and helped him up.

"Twi? You're up?" He strained.

"Yeah. Only woke up a little while ago, though. What's going on? Why are you two fighting? And what's wrong with Shadow?" She interrogated frantically. Twilight helped Soler up.

"Well, it seems that Neo misled Shadow into thinking that we're the enemy. Right now, I need to beat him to snap him out of it, but it's hard with him having a Chaos Emerald and me not having one. I'm running low on energy, while he has a constant supply." Soler explained. Twilight looked at Shadow and couldn't help but feel sorrowful, seeing him like that.

"Let me help you. Maybe if we work together…"

"No! He's too dangerous for you to get involved. Only I can handle him." Soler said.

"But you're barely standing as it is."

"Small details. I got this. Just, stay back." He told her as he charged at Shadow once again. Shadow threw a barrage of Spears at Soler, who dodged them with ease, closing the gap between the two as he dropkicked Shadow square in the chest, sending him back a few feet. He followed up with a homing attack, but Shadow recovered and deflected it with a Spear, then charged at Soler. Soler had barely recovered when he had to dodge a swipe from a Chaos Spear. Shadow attacked with a series of slashes, trying to hit Soler, missing the darting hedgehog.

Shadow became infuriated over his inability to land a hit on Soler, and went in for a dual stab, but Soler caught both Spears. Soler gritted his teeth, for the Spears pulsed with energy and burned his hands. The two were in a stalemate, with Shadow slowly getting the upper hand by putting all of his weight into the stab. Soler was straining to not let it hit him, but with all the damage he had already taken, it was getting hard, even for him. He pulled the Spears over his head, catching Shadow by surprise and ripping them out of Shadow's hands. He followed up with another dropkick to the gut and sent him back a few feet. He then threw the Spears at Shadow to get a little more space between the two.

 _Okay! Time to show him some more speed!_ He thought as he started to run straight at the black hedgehog. Shadow smirked and threw a Spear at Soler but was surprised when Soler disappeared once the Spear made contact. Twilight was surprised too. They both scanned the room for any traces of Soler, nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, you looking for me!" They heard a voice and looked to see Soler standing behind Shadow. Shadow pounced on him, but again, the white hedgehog disappeared. "Right here!" This time Soler was resting on the wall. Shadow gritted his teeth and threw another Spear at him, and again Soler disappeared.

"What's wrong? Can't hit me?" They could hear Soler's voice come from seemingly everywhere. Then a whole mass of Solers appeared around Shadow, each one in a different position. Shadow's eyes grew wide in shock and confusion, not knowing which one was the real one. The Solers all smirked,

"What wrong, can't attack? Fine, I'll do the attacking then." They said all at once before charging him simultaneously. Shadow readied two Chaos Spears and swiped away the first two Solers, only to then be hit by the next three. He dodged a low sweep kick from one and took it out easily enough, but was then caught off guard and sent flying into the air by a dual uppercut from two Solers. He was trying to recover midair, but the force of the hit sent him flying too high and too fast to recover. Four more Solers jumped up in the air with him.

 _I've always want to try this!_ Soler thought then all of the Solers lifted one leg and slammed it down on Shadow, sending him crashing to the ground, hard, creating a mini crater. The Solers landed, and all were smirking.

"Come on, Shadow. Don't tell me that's all the ultimate lifeform can do." He mocked. Twilight was amazed by all that was transpiring. She didn't know that the two hedgehogs could fight this hard, or take this much punishment. She was speechless as she watched the fight between the two hedgehogs. Shadow slowly got up from the crater, clearly in pain, but thanks to the Emerald, his pain was fading away. He stood and looked to see a large group of Solers standing before him. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, then he made a single Chaos Spear. He then started to pump a lot of energy into the Spear and is seemed to grow in size and brightness. Soler and Twilight could both feel the power coming off of the Spear, and braced to see what was going to happen next. Then, Shadow threw the Spear into the air above himself. The Solers and Twilight both watched as the Spear gained height. Once it reached a certain point, Shadow shouted.

"Chaos Spear Shower!"

 _Chaos Spear Shower? This is new._ Soler thought in his head and started to slightly panic. The Spear grew bright, then it exploded into what seemed like an endless onslaught of Chaos Spears. The attack quickly took out the Solers and left the real one alone. Soler created two Spears and tried to deflect the attack, and at first, he was able to deflect a few, but they were pouring down at such a speed he couldn't keep up and he lost both of his Spears in the process. He put his arms up in a vain attempt to protect himself as much as he could. Twilight could hear Soler scream in agony as the attack was cut up his whole body, prompting Twilight to shield her eyes with her wings.

The attack only lasted for a few seconds, but to Soler, it felt like hours. Once the attack had ended, Twilight uncovered herself and was shocked to see Soler still standing there in the same position, his whole body covered in gashes and cuts. Blood was dripping off of his arms as it hit the floor. He uncovered his face and was panting hard, his legs trembling, barely able to keep him standing. Shadow's face was harsh and austere as he stared at Soler.

"Is… That, all you got Shadow?" Soler uttered weakly. Shadow teleported right in front of him and kicked him over to a corner of the room in response. Soler hit the wall with a smack, but before he could move, Shadow proceeded to throw a few Spears above him, causing the wounded white hedgehog to be buried in rubble. Then, Shadow looked over to Twilight, who looked back at him with horror and fear. Shadow created another Spear and started to walk towards her. Twilight was too afraid to move as she watched him get closer.

"Shadow, please don't do this. It's not you, Shadow." She pleaded with him, but he just kept walking. Her legs gave out under her and she fell, tears starting to run from her eyes, now that he stood right before her.

"Shadow…" She whispered as he raised the Spear.

"Hey! Your brother was a salamander!" Shadow stopped in his tracks and looked over to the rubble. Soler's upper body was sticking out, and he was trying to free himself. "And he wasn't just any salamander, but a biogenetically made salamander who didn't even look like one. Now we know where you get your looks from, huh?" He taunted. Shadow clenched his teeth and stalked towards Soler.

"Oh, and your dad was a crazed scientist who went stir crazy in a lab in the middle of space, so he decided to try and get revenge on all of Mobius for it. Looks like we know now where your personality come from, right?" He egged on. Shadow's anger quickened his pace. "Oh, wait! The best part is that your mom was a floating alien eye who tricked you into thinking that if you gave it the Emerald, that it would help you. And not only did it not help you, it tried to kill you. Man, no wonder you're so gullible." Soler smirked. Shadow teleported right in front of him, the last straw. Soler continued smirking as he looked directly at him.

"What's wrong kitten?" He asked. Shadow beat Soler beyond being properly described with words, throbbing and agony couldn't even begin to describe it. Once Shadow had finished, he threw Soler towards Twilight, and the white hedgehog slid on his back right in front of her.

"That hurt so much." He grumbled, then looked up at a still Twilight, her eyes tear-filled. He carefully stood and shook her a bit.

"Twi. Snap out of it, Twi. I need for you to focus right now." He said to her, getting her to snap out of it with widening eyes.

"What's happening?" She asked

"No time to explain right now. I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?" He asked as he wiped the tears out of her eyes and she nodded.

"Okay. I only have one move left that is sure to work, but it's going to be dangerous. So when I go back to fight Shadow, I need you to be paying attention. He's going to unleash all of his power, but I've got a counter move for it. So when he does that, I'm going to make my move. When you see a white light, I need you to create the strongest shield you can and don't let up until the light fades. Okay?" He finished. She nodded, taking in all of what he had said. He smirked, "Don't worry. By the time this is over, we'll have our old, moody hedgehog back." Soler turned back to Shadow. Shadow was surging with Chaos Energy, since Soler had angered him enough, but he had to get him a little angrier before he can enact his plan.

"Oh I know that you have more power than this weak sauce. I mean, Cream could beat you with this lowly power you're showing. And you call yourself the ultimate lifeform! Pssh! Sounds more like false advertising to me, kitten." Soler said, and that was all it took. Shadow unclenched his Inhibitor Rings, and glew an uncontrolled red as he unleashed his Chaos Energy. Twilight felt the power and took a step back, for the power she felt was much stronger than any magic she'd ever felt. It made the whole place tremble, and the fact that Soler wasn't so much as flinching from the power Shadow was giving off made Twilight tremble even more. Soler stood strong, looking at Shadow without fear.

 _Okay Shadow. Time for me to save ya, buddy._ Soler thought. He then focused his energy, trying to draw as much as he can. His eyes then grew a bright cyan as he released the energy.

"Chaos Break!" He shouted. Soler was surrounded by an aurora of cyan energy, and all of his quills were pointing up as well. The streaks in his quills were also glowing, much like the energy around him. Twilight was awed at the amount of energy he had left, and she figured that he didn't have much left, but the energy she felt from Soler made she feel calm, almost as if everything was going to be alright. The energy felt like a tamed power. Soler looked at Shadow and knew this was going to be the last attack.

"Let's end this, Shadow!" He shouted.

"Gladly!" Shadow responded for once, charging up all of the energy he was releasing, as well as every last bit of Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emerald. Soler looked back and nodded at Twilight, letting her know to be ready. He then ran up to Shadow and pulled him into a bear hug and didn't let go. Shadow tried to escape, but he couldn't under Soler's unwavering grip. The energy Shadow was charging started to grow out of control, and Soler knew that this was his moment. He focused all of his energy, and hoped that his plan worked.

Twilight watched as the whole area seemed to fall apart as more of the temple crumbled around them, and water started flooding in. She didn't know how much longer the temple was going to hold. Twilight watched the two hedgehogs struggling before her, with Soler holding an uncontrollable Shadow. Just when Twilight thought the battle couldn't get any more intense, everything went silent. Shadow and Soler stopped struggling and everything was oddly still. Then, a white light could be seen coming from the two hedgehogs and was growing brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Twilight was stunned by the light, feeling weird, unsettled, and yet powerful, like she needed to get away from it. She then remembered what Soler said and created a protective bubble around herself.

At first nothing happened, but once the light hit her bubble, it was being pushed back and the bubble instantly cracked under it. She pumped more magic into the bubble, restoring the crack. But it was hard keeping it from cracking, since whatever that light was kept trying to break the bubble. The seconds felt like hours, as Twilight battled this light, trying to keep the bubble secure, though she was losing. Cracks grew all over the bubble, and she sweated in her efforts to maintain it. The cracks grew too much at one point, and she could feel that the bubble was going to break. But her luck prevailed as the light started to fade as quickly as it came.

As the light faded, Twilight let down her bubble and breathed a sigh of relief. She then watched as the light faded back into the two hedgehogs who were still in the same position, but something was different. She walked closer to them, and as she did, she could see that they both were back in there normal forms, but steam was coming off of their bodies, and moved an inch. Just when she was right on them, they both fell to their knees, surprising her and Soler let go of Shadow, who fell to his side.

When Twilight saw his face, she was astonished to see that his pupils were gone, and his mouth was open in a silent wail of stunned agony. The Chaos Emerald he was holding rolled out of his lifeless hand, drained of all energy. She walked over to Soler, to see his face and to her surprise, unlike Shadow, he was still conscious, but his whole body was steaming and he was looking up ,but wasn't focused on anything.

"Twilight… Get… Inhibitor… Rings." He said dryly. At first, she didn't know what he meant, but then she recalled that Shadow took off some rings around his hands. She looked around for them and found them a few feet away. She levitated them over to Soler.

"Here." He took the rings and slowly, almost instinctively, put them back on Shadow's wrists. Soler couldn't see much, since everything was blurry around him, and his hearing was just about gone too, and don't get him started on his nerves. He looked over to see a blurry image of a lavender being, which he guessed was Twilight, standing next to him. He couldn't hear much of what she was saying, but from her blurred movements, he figured she was in a panic.

"Soler! We need to get out of here! This place is coming down! Soler!" Twilight shouted at him. She was right, the temple was coming down around them, water was flooding in at an alarming rate, and pieces of the ceiling were coming down around them. That last move was all it could take. Soler looked at her frantic movements, and then felt around for the Chaos Emerald. When he found it, he looked at it and could see it was lifeless.

"Soler, the Emerald lost all its power after that last attack. It's useless." She told him. She watched as he held the Emerald close, the dull Emerald taking a while to start glowing its bright violet, as if it had never been drained of its energy.

"Get close." Soler said, and Twilight did as he said and got right next to him. He touched Shadow and Twilight, then raised the Emerald as high as he could.

"Chaos Control." He muttered, and they teleported away just before a huge slab of rock came crashing down where they were sitting.

 **(P.O.V. None, Twilight's Castle)**

The group was sitting around in the dining hall, now that it was time for dinner, and the girls decided to stay the night again. Everyone was enjoying their meals in peace.

"I wonder how Soler is doing. I never got the chance to thank him for saving me." Fluttershy said, sitting next to Tails.

"I'm sure he's doing fine. He is probably on his way back here with Shadow and Twilight." Tails said.

"Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they all just popped in here out of nowhere." Sonic said. Just then Soler, Shadow, and Twilight dropped right in the middle of the table. Soler and Shadow laid on their side, unconscious and barely breathing. They looked like they had been through a war. Before anyone could react, Twilight shouted with tears in her eyes,

"We need to get them to a hospital, now!"

 _That's chapter 19, the one I have been waiting to make for a long long time now. Man, it felt so so good writing this chapter, that I enjoyed every minute of making it. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading the story so far and enjoyed this chapter. I'd say we're at a mid-point or a quarter of the way into the story by now, so we're nearing the climax, but it's a way's away. Yeah… And oh, I also wanted to ask you guys if you know anyway I could get Soler drawn for me. I would do it myself, but I'm way too busy to draw him in detail. If any of you guys know a way, just PM me. It will be a huge help. Also since the end is on the way I was going to do some filler chapters based on what you guys want to see happen so if you guys have anything that you'd wish to see happen in a ch PM me also. Thanks! Anyway, this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	20. Chapter 20

_Ahh… Breaktime._

 _ **Chapter 20: Recharge**_

 **(P.O.V Soler, ?)**

Fire surrounded Soler as he ran with all his might to save his one and only. He couldn't save the other people. Hell, not even her father, but he made a promise to him to protect her, and he wasn't going to break it. The attack came from nowhere, and now the whole village was burning to the ground. The survivors weren't any luckier, what with the whole village being slaughtered by some mystery hedgehog. It angered Soler to see the place he called home and all the inhabitant killed before his eyes, and he couldn't do anything about it. People he called his friends and family, all gone. But he wasn't going to let his one and only be taken away from him too. He ran through the burning village and out to the hill that overlooked the village. He got to the top and stopped to see the black hedgehog holding the one he loved hostage.

"Soler!" Luna cried out, her purple eyes glowing in the moonlight, and her crescent moon pendant dangling from her neck.

"Don't worry, Luna. Everything will be fine." Soler said as soothingly as he could to her. Then he looked into the red eyes of the black hedgehog. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you've taken away the lives of people dear to me. I don't know the reason why, but I don't care. But I won't let you take her away from me!" Soler got into a fighting stance. The black hedgehog didn't look the slightest bit worried about Soler, only staring coldly at him as he held Luna with one arm round her ticked Soler off more.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" He yelled.

"Show me that power." The black hedgehog finally said.

"What power? I don't have any power."

"Foolish hedgehog, you don't even know the power that you hold." The hedgehog retorted, looking down at Luna and back at Soler. "This is the reason why you don't know what power you hold. She's making you weak. All of them were making you weak. That's why they were terminated, and why she'll be next if you don't show me the true power you hold." He created a Chaos Spear and put it up to Luna's face.

"Now show me!" Soler panicked, not having a clue about what he was talking about. He didn't know what power he was talking about, but Luna's life was on the line. The Spear got closer to her face as the hedgehog's patience wore thin. Soler could see the tears streaking down Luna's face, and it was breaking his heart to see her in such fear.

"Wait! Listen. Let her go, it's me you want. Take me away so you can get this power, just leave her out of this."

"No. Either you show me this power now, or she dies." The black hedgehog said as he pulled the Spear from Luna's face and put it at her back. Her eyes widened as she felt the tip at her back. Luna looked at Soler with fear in her eyes. He couldn't his the fear behind his own eyes, knowing what was to come.

"No! Please! Let her go! I'll do whatever you want!"

"5…" The hedgehog counted.

"You don't have to do this."

"4…"

"Please let her go, she's all I have…"

"3…" He continued. Soler's mind, began to shatter, unsure of what to do to get him to stop. Tears welled up in his eyes, knowing that he was too weak to stop him.

"2..." Soler and Luna's eyes met as they reached for each other.

"1…"

"Soler, I love…" She was cut off by the Spear being shoved through her back, out of her chest. Tears streamed down her face as time seemed to stop, and she stared at Soler and his shrunken pupils, his face lifeless. Her mouth was open, as if she wanted to say something, but then the Spear was yanked out and she collapsed, dead. Everything started to turn white for Soler as he stared at her body. And one word came to his mind.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Ponyville)**

"Luna!" Soler shouted as he woke up in a cold sweat. He grabbed his side in pain as he realized he was wrapped up again, but this time he was in a hospital room. He looked down at his sheets and frowned.

 _Another dream about her. It still hurts, no matter how many times it replays._ He thought as his grip tightened on the sheets, _And it'll always be my fault._ His ears drooped and his head hung low.

"So you've finally awoken." He heard a voice say, snapping him out of his thoughts. Soler looked up to see Shadow leaning on the door to the room.

"Oh, Shadow. How long have you been there?" Soler asked weakly.

"Long enough. Now here, heal up. We still got work to do." Shadow responded and tossed him a Chaos Emerald. It landed in Soler's lap and he just gazed blankly at it.

"What are you waiting for? I know I taught you how to heal up with a Chaos Emerald. Now heal up, Neo is still out there."

"Yeah I know he's still out there, but I need a break." Soler responded. Shadow was slightly taken aback, then he glared at Soler.

"What do you mean a 'break'? You know just as well I do what type of destruction he can cause, so we need to stop him." Shadow retaliated. Soler looked down as his sheets, unable to meet Shadow's eyes.

"Believe me, I know what he can do better than most people. But I need to take a break ya know. I mean, I've been running off of small naps and very little energy for the past few days trying to get you guys back. I think I need to take a breather." He told Shadow. Shadow was about to respond, but then Soler looked at him and Shadow could see his mental exhaustion. Soler has been through alot, and this was a part of his struggle. Shadow sighed and crossed his arms.

"Fine, but at least heal up. You can take your break outside of this room." Shadow told him. Soler smiled and grabbed the Emerald. He held the Emerald close and let the energy heal up his wounds. He sighed in relief as his breathing eased, and the pain around his body started to subside. Once he was done, he threw the Emerald back to Shadow.

"Thanks, Shadow."

"Hmph. Just meet me back at the castle. Oh, and once your little break is over, we're doing some serious training afterward." He told him before teleporting away. Soler got up and put his shoes on. He was taking off his bandages when a nurse pony entered the room, surprised to see him up.

"Oh! Mister Hedgehog, you shouldn't be out of bed. You were only brought in here yesterday, and from your injuries, you need more rest." She said as she noticed that Shadow was gone too. "And where is the other one? You both need more rest." Soler smiled at the nurse as he removed the last of the wrappings.

"Don't worry. We're both fine, I assure you. We heal pretty quickly." He told her as he stood up. He walked to the door, then turned to face her, a polite smile on his face. "May I please leave?" She looked at him and could see that his injuries did seem all healed up, and he didn't show any signs of struggle while moving around. The nurse pony had him sign some papers and let him leave.

He walked out of the hospital and into the bright sun. He took a deep breath and could see the castle on the other side of town. Instead of running there, he decided to take a calm walk there, to take a good look at Ponyville and all its inhabitants. He walked out into the bustling streets of Ponyville and could see ponies walking around everywhere, living out their normal lives, appearing pretty happy about it. He walked through the place and none of the ponies seemed to pay him much attention, having grown used to the Mobians being here. As he walked, he didn't notice that something was coming at him, fast and unable to stop.

"Watch out!" He heard someone say, but he was too slow to react and turned to be hit hard in the face. The two bodies hit the ground with a thump, both heads were spinning. Soler recovered and sat up to see what hit him. He found it to be a gray pegasus with a yellow mane and tail on the ground, with packages and letters scattered on the ground around her.  
"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm good. I just don't know what went wrong." She replied. He was about to respond, but then she looked at him, giving him a look at her eyes. The fact that the golden eyes were off-centered caused him to simply stare. They were both off-centered, with one looking up, and the other looking down. He didn't realize he was staring until she blushed and looked away.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to stare, you're eyes are just unique is all. By the way, I'm Soler the Hedgehog. And you're name is?" He asked.

"I'm Derpy Hooves, but everyone calls me Derpy. And it's okay that you stared, and sorry for flying into you." She apologized as the two stood up.

"It's cool. But why were you doing flying so fast?" He asked.

"Oh. Well, I'm a mail pony, and was just doing my rounds. I guess I lost track of where I was going and flew into you." She responded. Soler nodded, then proceeded to help her pick up the letters and packages. Once things were back in order, she took flight again.

"Thank you so much Mister Soler for helping me. And sorry again for flying into you." She said.

"It's cool, Derp. And hey, just call me Soler. Take care, Derpy." He said back to her, smiling. She smiled back and waved as she flew off to deliver more mail. Soler continued his walk back to the castle, and by this time he was walking past Sugercube Corner and could smell the baked goods being made. It made his mouth water, and he pressed on to the castle.

That is, until he noticed three little fillies running up to him. One was a white unicorn with a swirl-colored mane and tail of pink and purple. Another was a yellow "earth pony," or at least, that's what he thought the term was, who's bow-bearing mane and tail were a bright red, almost like an apple. The last was an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail, who's hairstyle reminded him of Rainbow's. The three stopped in front of him, breathless, like they had been running for a while.

"What's the rush, girls? Someone in need of saving?" He asked them. The earth pony spoke up first.

"No sir! There's no danger. It's just since you and ya friends have arrived, we've been wanting to meet ya'll."

"Yeah. And every time we came by the castle, you guys weren't there." The unicorn added.

"So once we saw you, we had to stop you mister." The pegasus finished. Soler smirked. They really wanted to meet him and the others. He got down on one knee to get closer to their height and smiled.

"Well I'm not busy, so you have my undivided attention. My name is Soler the Hedgehog, and who are you three girls?" He responded.

"I'm Applebloom." The yellow one said, "Please to meet ya, partner."

"I'm Sweetie Belle." The unicorn said next, "Charmed."

"And I'm Scootaloo." The pegasus said, "What's up?"

"And together we're the… CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" They cheered in unison. Soler giggled a bit.

"Well. It's a pleasure to meet you guys. So you've been wanting to meet me?" He said.

"Yeah. We've got so many questions for ya. Like, where you came from? How you got here? What are you? Where-" Applebloom was cut off by Sweetie putting her hoof on her mouth.

"We just got a lot of questions." She said sheepishly. Soler smiled brightly at the girls and their curiosity.

"Well, I'll say that I come from a place called Mobius. How we got here would take time to explain. And me and my friends are Mobians. That clear up some things?" He finished. Sweetie took her hoof of Applebloom s mouth.

"Yeah, that answers some of our questions. But we have so many more." Applebloom continued ecstatically.

"I'm sure you girls do, but I actually don't have all the time in the world today. Gotta check back in with the others, but I'm sure I could set up a day to where my friends and I can answer any questions you have. But if you have any more quick questions, I can answer those." The girls seemed satisfied with his promise, and they did have one question on their mind. They look around suspiciously, then motioned for him to get closer. Soler was so intrigued that he had to lean in.

"Well, we heard that Rainbow Dash found herself a stallion friend, and that it's one of your friends. Is it true?" Scootaloo asked quietly. Soler looked around again, to make sure no one was listening to them, and to play along with the girls. He leaned in close to them.

"Well yeah, it is so totally true." He gossiped quietly to them. The girls all gasped and giggled silently, which made him smile.

"Well, which one is it?" Sweetie asked. Soler smiled at them and stood back up.

"Well that's for you girls to find out. I'll see you girls later, gotta get back now." He told them. They seemed to deflate when he wouldn't reveal who it was, but they liked the mystery of it. They said their goodbyes and ran off to do who-knows-what. He smiled and continued making his way to the castle. The citizens of this place all seem to live happy and carefree lives. It brought a smile to his heart when he thought about it, and how peaceful this place is compared to his own world. He then thought about Neo and how him being here is his fault, and how he'd hate for him ruin the way of life for these ponies.

 _I'm going to make sure that I stop Neo, no matter the cost._ Soler thought to himself, resolving to stop him, his will much stronger than ever. He walked up the steps to the doors of the castle. He stopped and admired the peaceful town once more, smiling before heading in.

 **( . none, Twilight's Castle)**

Once Soler had entered the castle, he was greeted with the sounds of arguing coming from the map room. He made his way there, and once he was right outside the door, he only peeked in to see his friends all around the map, arguing amongst themselves.

"Well now, we need to focus all of our efforts on finding Neo so we can stop him." Rainbow urged.

"Yeah, but we don't have a clue where he is, so he could be anywhere." Tails responded.

"Well, couldn't Shadow just use those Emeralds to sense him?" Applejack asked. Shadow said nothing in response, sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Knuckles looked to him for an explanation, but sighed when he didn't offer one.

"Well we couldn't do that because one, it took both Shadow and Soler to sense the energies of the Emerald, and two, Neo has some way of protecting the Emeralds from being detected. So no luck there." Knuckles explained.

"Well, what about the princesses? Couldn't they help?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight shook her head.

"Sorry Flutters, but they can't seem to track him. Even with their powers." She informed her. The room went into an uncomfortable silence, no one certain of what to say. Soler decided that this was the time to make his entrance.

"Man. You guys just fall all apart when I'm gone, huh? Can't leave you guys for even a minute." He said casually, grabbing everyone's attention. They all snapped out of their slumps, happy to see that he's alright. Twilight made it especially clear by hopping off of her throne and running to hug him. "Man, Twi. You make it seem like you'll never see me again. It takes more than a life threatening move to keep this hedgehog down." He smirked. She let him go and smiled brightly.

"Yeah I know, but when we got back, you two didn't look so good. So I was concerned." She said, as she started walking back to the map, "And so was Luna." It made him blush a bit, hearing that Luna was worried. He shook it off and walked up to the map, ignoring Twilight's sly tone.

"Glad to see you back from the dead." Sonic said.

"Same here, blue. Now, what seems to be the problem here that you guys need your fearless leader to decide?" He voiced. Most of them rolled their eyes at his leader remark. Shadow finally decided to speak up.

"We have three of the Emeralds, and so does Neo. He's still out there, so he's a threat. Now we're trying to figure out our next move." He said peering directly at Soler. This made everyone to look from Shadow to Soler, at their stare-off.

"Well the answer is simple. We do nothing and just wait for him to show himself." He said coolly. His solution confused everyone.

"What do you mean 'wait for him'? He's a threat, and needs to be taken down as soon as possible" RD said.

"Dashie is right. He's a big meany and needs to be stopped." Pinkie chimed in.

"Very true, but now we're all back together, so that means we're now at full power. And he know this, so he won't be popping up anytime soon. This gives us time to prepare for his next move, and to get some R&R time. We've all been through alot in these past few days, and we all deserve some time to recover. So while Neo is hiding, we're going to rest up and be ready for him, okay?" He finished confidently. Everyone looked at each other, thinking about the plan, all coming to a silent consensus.

"You're right Soler, so we'll go with that plan. Everyone, just go back to your everyday lives and try to rest up, but be on alert for if we need to be on the move. Okay?" Twilight said. Everyone agreed and all went back to their daily lives, to enjoy life a little. Knuckles went back to the farm with AJ, Tails and Fluttershy went back to her cottage, Rarity went back to her boutique, Pinkie back to Sugarcube Corner, and Sonic and RD left to get some alone time. This left Soler, Twilight, Shadow, Spike, and Starlight in the castle. Soler was about to say something, but Spike suddenly burped fire and a letter popped out. He picked it up and looked at the sealing and saw that it was a crescent moon seal, with Soler's name on the front.

"I think this is for you." Spike said and handed him the letter. The white hedgehog took the letter and opened it up. He silently read the letter, and then his eyes widened and his face turned completely red. He put the letter down and started to walk towards the door.

"Well, what did it say?" Starlight asked.

"Oh nothing important, just gotta go to, uh, Canterlot. I'll be back in day or so, don't worry." He said.

"You sure all of us don't need to go?" Spike asked.

"Oh no, no, no, no! I'm positive I can handle this, just me, myself and I. So, uh, I'll see you guys later." He said quickly and sped out of the door and towards Canterlot. The remainders of the group looked at the door, wondering what was on the letter.

"Well, I should get going too." Starlight said in the silence. "I'm going to the Crystal Empire to see Sunburst how is doing. I'll see you guys." She said, walking out of the castle. The group left behind stood there for a brief, uncomfortable moment. Shadow didn't look amused that everyone was taking a break, but he understood why. Even he needed a little time to get himself together, but that wasn't the problem. He could feel that something was off about Twilight. He glanced at her, and she was sort of distanced away from him, her body tensed.

"Well, uh, Shadow, I got some princess things to do. So I'll see you around. Come on Spike, let's go get on those princess things." She said, disturbing the silence as she levitated Spike with her magic, disappearing into the castle. Shadow sat there, alone in his thoughts.

 _A lot has happened and it seems that Neo has gotten some new powers. And they're not to be played with. I wonder what his aim is, besides Soler._ He thought, shaking it off as he stood and went off to his room. He then remembered something and pulled out the three Emeralds. He still had Soler's Emerald, and the third one. He didn't mind holding all of the Emeralds, the power felt amazing. But Soler needed an Emerald on him, in case of Neo. He thought and remembered he said he was going to a place called Canterlot.

"Whelp. Looks like I'm going to Canterlot." Shadow said, leaving the castle.

 _Chapter 20, down! Yeah, like the title said, the next few chapters are kinda going to be some cooldown chapters, not just for the story, but for me too. Don't worry, I'll try and keep them interesting, promise. Besides that, I just wanted to bring up what I said last outro, if some didn't see it. I want to hear from you guys and see if there's something you wish would happen in the story. I want all of your ideas, the more, the better! The survey link is at the bottom of this outro. If you want your name to be said so I can give credit, go right ahead. Oh, and I want to bring up the artist thing again, trying to find someone to draw Soler is all. Anyway, this is long enough. This is Solerwolf, OUT!_

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	21. Chapter 21

_I'm back from the dead!_

 _ **Chapter 21: Daily Life**_

 **(P.O.V. Knuckles, Sweet Apple Acres)**

Everything had been normal at the Apple Farm since Sonic and his friends came. Knuckles had taken a liking to coming and working at the farm since he got there, after AJ had asked if he wanted to. He needed something to do while he was here, and working at the farm seemed to give him the sense of order he needed. He was the Guardian of the Master Emerald, so when he got up everyday, he knew what he had to do, and what he was going to do. When he first fell into Equestria, he was worried he'd die of boredom, but thanks to Applejack, he hadn't. The pony had done much for him since he got there, giving him something to do everyday, calming him down when he was going to kill Sonic or Soler, taking time out of her day to talk to him and see how he was doing, and just being nice in general to the fiery echidna.

Knuckles hadn't thought much of it, but she really has done a lot for him, and he hadn't done anything for her. Of course he knew if he asked her about it, she would just deny it and tell him she's doing it out of the kindness of her heart. He liked that about her. She didn't need something in return for helping people, she just helped because it was the right thing to do. There are a great many other things that he admired about the pony, like how honest she was with everyone, or that she wasn't afraid to get her hooves dirty, to put in some hard work. And he couldn't lie, he loved looking into her eyes whenever they were just around each other. When he looked into them, they always soothed him, making him feel safe for once. He realized that she always made him feel warm inside. Knuckles opened his eyes and sat up from the tree he was resting on. He put his hand over his heart, feeling warm inside from just thinking about her.

 _Don't tell me, am I falling for Applejack?_ He worried mentally. _Nah, it can't be. It's not like as if just seeing her makes my heart skip a beat or something._ Just then, Applejack showed up, having found Knuckles in her search for him.

"Hey Knux. So this is where ya been." She said to him with her heart-warming smile. He was surprised to see her, and when he looked at her, his heart skipped a beat.

"Oh. Uh, hey AJ. What's up?" He tried to act cool.

 _Dang it! I really am falling for her!_ He thought.

"Well I didn't want much, just wanted to see how you were doing is all. 'Specially since it's such a nice day and all." She replied to him.

"Oh yeah, I'm doing great AJ. How have you been today?" He asked in response. She sighed and sat next to him.

"Well, just a little tuckered out is all. I've been helping out around town today, and I need a little break. So I came to find you." She finished. She got closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Knuckles' face went red when she did that. This was the second time she'd done this, and he didn't say it, but he enjoyed it whenever she did this. He didn't know how to react to his new realization, that he liked her, or how to handle it.

He was loving the moment he was having with her, as they both just sat against the tree with the wind blowing that sweet smell of apples through the air. He glanced down at her, glad to see how much she was enjoying this moment with him, a sweet smile on her face, and her eyes closed.

 _I know that I like her, but what do I do about it?_ He wondered, getting frustrated with himself, _Come on, echidna! Why are you acting like such a wimp?_ The whole time he was debating with himself in his thoughts, Applejack could feel the tightening of his muscles. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He looked like he was having a debate with himself.

"What's wrong Knuckles?" She asked as she sat up. Her voice seemed to make him snap out of his thoughts and he looked at her.

"Oh, uh, nothing's wrong." He said, putting on his best fake smile. She didn't look convinced with his smile, knowing that it was fake.

"Come on partner. I can tell a fake smile when I see one. Now just tell me what's eating at ya." She responded. He knew her well enough to know that once she wanted to know something, she could be very determined to find out. Plus, those grass-colored eyes searching for the truth didn't really help.

"It's nothing. Just, uh… I remembered that I need to go talk to Sonic about something. It's important, so I'll meet you back at the barn later, okay AJ?" He responded as he stood and ran off, leaving a confused AJ behind.

 **(P.O.V. Knuckles, Ponyville)**

"So let me get this straight. You were relaxing on a tree, thinking about AJ. Then, you realized that you liked AJ, and she appeared out of nowhere, looking for you, right when you had this epiphany. Then she proceeded to relax next to you, and you, 'Mister Tough Echidna,' start to panic. So when she asked you what was wrong, you lied, and told her you needed to talk to me, and ran from her to find me. Is that all correct?" Sonic finished. Knuckles nodded, slouched over next to him on the park bench. Sonic sighed,

"Well, as funny as this whole thing is, you really need some help this time. So I'll save all my laughter for later." Sonic added.

"Well I appreciate that. But you can't tell anyone about this," Knuckles pleaded.

"Oh I gotta tell Soler. He would just die from hearing how you've been acting."

"No one, hedgehog." Knuckles threatened.

"Oh, fine. So what are you going to do about Applejack?" Sonic replied.

"I don't know… I feel like I should just tell her how I feel, but…"

"But you're afraid that she won't feel the same way back." Sonic finished his sentence. Knuckles nodded pathetically. Sonic sighed, having known the knuckle head since he and Tails went to Angel Island to stop Eggman (STH2). He's never seen him like this before, so lost.

"Well buddy, let me ask you something. Do you like her?" Sonic started.

"Yes."  
"Okay, would you want to be in a relationship with her?"

"Of course I would!"

"Okay then. Last question, would you give your all to make sure that she stays happy and safe?"

"Without question." Knuckles answered. Sonic smiled at his friend,

"Well then, it seems your mind is made up. Just go on and ask her out already man!" He told him confidently. Knuckles looked at him, confused.

"It's not that easy."

"Yes it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, yes it is." Sonic retorted.

"Dude, it's not-"

"Knux. Trust me, it is. Just go back to the farm and ask her out man! Don't sweat it." Sonic interjected. Knuckles was about to say something, but Sonic stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder. "Knuckles, I've known you for a long time, and I've never known you to being afraid to express how you feel. You like AJ, and I don't want you to pass something up because you became afraid to express yourself man. So just tell her. I promise it'll be okay man." With confidence, Sonic stood from the bench and walked off.

Knuckles watched his friend walk off and thought on what he said.

 _He's right. Since when have I ever been afraid to say how I feel? Pathetic._ He told himself. He sat on the bench, thinking for a while. The sun started to set, so Knuckles shook his head and stood up, knowing what he needed to do as he started his trek back to the farm.

 **(P.O.V. none, Apple Farm)**

The sun was just starting to go down as Applejack finished feeding the chickens for the night and began heading back to the farmhouse. She still wondered where Knuckles was. She was slightly worried that she had been acting too strong with him earlier when she rested on his shoulder. She knew she liked him, but didn't know how to tell him. So AJ figured that she would just express it and hope that he gets the hints. She made her way back to the farmhouse and she could hear someone coming up the road to the house. To her joy, she saw Knuckles walking up the road to the house, and he looked like he's been doing some thinking. He walked up to the house while looking at the ground, deep in his thoughts.

 _Gosh_ , wondered Applejack, _What could he be thinking so hard about?_

"Well I'm glad you're back, Knux. Did you get to talk to Sonic?" She asked in greeting. That seemed to snap him from his thoughts as he looked at her.

"Oh, yeah, I got to talk to him. He helped me figure out something." He said as he took a seat on the porch.

"Oh? And what might that be?" She asked as she sat next to him.

"You." She was stunned by his response and didn't know how to respond herself. He turned and looked her in the eyes, which caused her to blush deeply.

"AJ, ever since I meet you, I felt some sort of connection to you. And that connection only grew the longer I got to know you and be near you. I've found out so many good qualities about you that only made me more glad that I can get to know you. And it led to me falling for you." He told her. AJ was so red, her heart was beating her thoughts out of her head.

"AJ, what I'm getting at is that I want to be with you. And I love you, even if you don't feel the same back, I just wanted you to know." He finished. She was still quiet, having realized that there was only one thing that was coming to her mind at the moment, and it the right time to do it. Knuckles looked away from her and sighed.

"See? I told Sonic that this would happen. That you would never- hmph!" He was cut off by AJ pressing her lips on his as she dove in and kissed him. At first, his eyes were wide open, surprised by the kiss, but eventually he closed his eyes and embraced her and melted into the bliss of the kiss. The two broke away, panting, having forgotten to breathe temporarily. Once they regained their breath, they shared another kiss, but this time, it was a smaller one. They then laid their foreheads against each other's as they gazed into each other's eyes.

"Knux, I love you too. And it would make me the happiest mare in the world if I could be your marefriend." She finally spoke. He smirked.

"And it would make me the happiest echidna if you were too. But what exactly is a marefriend?" He asked. She laughed and held him close.

"Oh just kiss your girl again already!" She teased. He smirked and happily shared another passionate kiss with her has the sun finally went down on the horizon, giving their perfect day a suitable ending.

 **(P.O.V. none, Fluttershy's Cottage)**

Tails had been helping Fluttershy around her cottage since he got to Ponyville, and he liked doing it, helping her. He was normally doing something on a computer screen or with some machine, so helping living things was a nice change of pace for the fox. He helped her clean around the house, or with the animals and her garden, or by accompanying her to get things from the town so she wouldn't have to carry everything herself.

He liked how she cared for all the animals, and how pure her kindness was towards most things. Tails had never met someone like that, who can see the bright side to almost everything. He had just finished tending to the garden while she was feeding the animals, so he sat on a stump, watching her work. When she was feeding the animals, she always had the biggest smile on her face as she talked with the animals as she fed them.

The animals appeared to love her too, being happy to simply be around her and have her attention. All animals seemed to like her, from a little ant and mischievous raccoon to well, every animal. Heck, there was even a big bear that stayed around the cottage with her. Tails would've thought the other animals would be nowhere near him, but they all played and lived together, like a family. Tails sat back under a tree and watched her with a smile slowly spreading on his face.

 _The way her pink mane just seems to flow in the wind, and her big eyes always seem to draw me into them. And her cute smile, plus I love it when she gets flustered. She always looks so adorable._ Tails thought as he watched her. He had been having a lot more of these thoughts about her since they had gotten back from the jungle. He wasn't going to lie, he was really scared and worried when she was still in that cocoon. But he was so relieved to see that she was okay.

Ever since then, he's only wanted to make sure that she was always happy and safe. And to also be more than just friends. But he couldn't deny it, he didn't know how to approach this. She's not some program or machine that he could easily figure out how to approach. No, she was a beautiful pegasus whose smile was all Tails ever wanted to see. His chest alway grew warm whenever he was around her. He sighed and closed his eye as he leaned on the trunk, thinking.

 _Man, what am I gonna do? I know I like her and want to be more with her, just how do I approach it?_ He was thinking hard and didn't notice that Fluttershy had walked up to him and was trying to get his attention but was too timid to break him from his thoughts. She always got this way when she was around him, and she hated it when she did.

Ever since Tails had come to help her at her cottage, she always got really shy around him, much more than she normally was. His presence always got her so flustered and made her get butterflies in her stomach. She loved the way he was always so kind and gentle with her and the animals, and how helpful he was around the cottage. Even when she didn't need his help, he'd always find a way to help her.

 _Oh, why can't I just talk to him and tell him how I feel towards him? I only barely get out a few phrases around him. I want to be more with him. I've figured that out, but now I just need to tell him._ She thought to herself. She shook her head and straightened up as she was slowly reached to touch him. Right before she could touch him, he opened his eyes and popped up from his sitting position. She yelped as she fell on her flank.

"That's it! I know what I have to do." He said confidently. Then, he looked down and saw Fluttershy on the ground. "Fluttershy, are you okay?" She regained her composure and realized he was talking to her, causing her to instantly blush. The yellow pegasus nodded her head, unable to speak. He offered a hand to help her up, which she accepted.

"Hey, Flutters. I need to run into town for a bit. I'll be back, okay?" Tails said as the two had made their way to the front of the cottage. Tails opened the door and walked out, "I shouldn't be gone for too long!" He ran off towards the town. She watched as he left, kicking herself in the flank for not saying anything again. Coincidentally, Rainbow landed at her door, surprising her.

"Hey Fluttershy. I came over to see if you had any turtle food on ya. I forgot to buy some the last time I was out and wanted to see if you had any on hoof." She asked when she noticed Fluttershy's face. The pink-maned pegasus was flustered at first, but then she looked relieved to see her.

"Rainbow! I'm so glad that you're here. Come in." She said as she dragged Rainbow in and shut the door behind them.

 **(P.O.V. Tails, Ponyville)**

Tails had made his way through Ponyville, looking for a certain blue hedgehog. He made his way to Twilight's Castle and was happy to see him sitting on the steps, talking to a turtle that had a propeller on its shell.

"Now listen Tanks, I know that I'm not a pony, and that it's almost like I'm moving into your life since I'm with Rainbow, but trust me when I say that I know you were here in her life before me. You'll always come first. I just hope that we can be friends little buddy." Sonic said to the turtle. The turtle didn't talk back, but instead gave Sonic a soft smile as he crawled onto his lap. Sonic smiled as he petted the turtle's head. Tails walked up to Sonic, cutting off the little moment he was having with the turtle.

"Hey Sonic, you got a minute?" Sonic looked up from Tanks and smiled at his little bro.

"You know I do Tails. What's up?" He asked in response as Tails sat down next to him.

"Well, how can I say this… I like Fluttershy, but I don't know how to tell her I do. I mean, I do like her, I just can't tell her." He confided in Sonic. Sonic had a starry-eyed face, as if he was trying to hold back tears. Tails looked at him confused, "What is it?" Sonic sniffled.

"It's just, my little bro is becoming a man!" He cried as he pulled Tails close to him. "It's enough to make a hedgehog cry." Tails looked at him, annoyed, and pulled out of his grasp.

"Sonic, this is serious to me! I don't know what to do here. I need some advice." He implored. Sonic straightened up and put on his award-winning smile.

"Yeah, yeah. I know man, I'm taking it seriously too. But can I just say that this is the second day in a row that I've been asked dating advice. SO why me?" He asked him.

"Well, it's probably because you're in a relationship." Tails responded. Sonic's ego was obviously getting inflated from the praise.

"Well I'm glad you guys have finally realized how much of a ladies hedgehog I am." He said with pride.

"But then again, knowing you, Rainbow was probably the one who asked you out." Tails said not directly to Sonic, but aloud as he thought about it. Sonic seemed to instantly deflate when he heard him say that, and sank into his seat a little. Tank saw the hedgehog's pride wounded, and nudged his head on his to try and cheer him up. Tails saw that he seemed to hurt his brother's pride and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, but I'm sure you asked her out bro. I mean, no lady can resist you man." He said. Sonic only slightly straightened up, but was still slouched over.

"Yeah, okay bud. So you still need some advice?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"Well like I told Knuckles yesterday, just go for it bro. You can't go wrong with that, but you know, just be gentle, it is Fluttershy."

"It can't be that eas-" Sonic cut him off by putting his finger up.

"Yes it is. Don't argue, and go get ya girl already." He interrupted. Tails looked like he was going to argue, but thought on it and realized Sonic was right.  
"Okay, thanks bro. Wish me luck!" He said as he flew off to the cottage. Sonic and Tank watched the fox leave.

"He'll be okay right? I believe in him." Sonic said to Tank, who gave him a grin. Sonic smiled and rubbed the turtle's head.

 **(P.O.V. Fluttershy, Her Cottage)**

"Fluttershy, I don't see what the problem is here. Just tell him how you feel." Rainbow said as she took a sip of her tea.

"Oh it's just not that easy. I can barely get out a few words whenever we're alone. How can I tell him that I like him?" She imparted to RD.

"Well Flutters, from the way you were talking about him earlier, it doesn't sound like you just like him." Rainbow teased. Fluttershy's face turned crimson from her friend's words.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She stuttered. Rainbow had a silly, sly grin on her face.

"You love him, don't you?" She asked. Fluttershy's face burned with embarrassment. Rainbow laughed at her friend's expression. Fluttershy was getting flustered from Rainbow and her teasing, but she knew her friend was right. She did love that fox, but she was just too scared to tell him.

 _I still hasn't even asked him about his two tails yet!_ She thought. She alway got lost looking into his eyes, which always seemed to be thinking about something, or planning something, which she's grown to love. _Plus, he's so gentle and kind to me and the animals, what isn't there to love?_ She alway kicked herself in the flank for being so shy.

Rainbow calmed down from her laughing and returned her attention to Fluttershy, who was coming down from her blush.

"Well then. Rainbow, what do you suggest I do?" She inquired. Rainbow thought about it for a second.

"Well, just do something spontaneous. Like, kiss him out of nowhere or something." The rainbow-maned, blue pegasus answered. Fluttershy blushed just thinking of kissing him, not that she didn't want to kiss him, just the way Rainbow said it, as if she didn't think she could handle it. She was about to reply, but then a knock was heard on the door. Rainbow got up and answered the door. Standing there was the fox of the hour.

"Oh, uh, Rainbow. Wasn't expecting to see you here." He said, seeping nervousness. Rainbow took this as her cue to leave. She looked back at Fluttershy and winked at her.

"Remember, spontaneous." She said as she walked past Tails and flew off. Once Rainbow was a little ways back to Sonic, she face hoofed herself.

"Dang it! I forgot the turtle food."

 **(P.O.V. none, Fluttershy's Cottage)**

 _What did she mean by her last comment?_ Tails wondered as he watched Rainbow fly off. He shrugged it off and walked in and closed the door to the cottage. Fluttershy was sitting at her table, appearing to have a slight blush on her face. He shook himself, recalling what he had to do.

"Fluttershy, there's something I need to talk to you about, and it's very important." He started. She nodded her head and went to the couch, where he took a seat next to her. Tails cleared his throat.

"Fluttershy… I umm. Ever… Hmm." He stopped, getting choked up with his words.

 _This is way harder than I thought it was going to be._ He thought to himself. He then grabbed her hooves and looked into her eyes, which brought a blush to both of their faces. He took a deep breath and started again.

"Fluttershy, ever since I met you, there has always been something about you that made me want to get to know you. I mean, when I look into your eyes…" He trailed off, looking into her eyes and getting choked up again. Fluttershy's mind was racing.

 _He's getting choked up talking to me, and he's blushing as hard as I am. Oh he does like me back, but he can't even say a sentence. What should I…_ She stopped mid-thought and remembered what Rainbow said. He seemed to be almost rambling to himself, trying to find his words. Fluttershy took this as her chance, her whole face turning red thinking about what she was getting ready to do.

"Well Fluttershy, I… Uhh… Well I don't know how to say it, but-" He was cut off by Fluttershy's lips pressing against his own, his eyes wide as plates. Fluttershy opened her eyes and backed away, her face a full red.

"I'm sorry… I just… I…" She stuttered. Tails' eyes went back to normal as he took his hand and held her face, soothing her as he looked into her eyes. He then took her by surprise and returned the kiss. She didn't resist the kiss, melting into it the way he did. It was the one thing they both had been waiting to do for a long time now. They broke the kiss and then went into a hug that seemed long overdue.

"I love you Tails." Fluttershy said dreamily. But then, she covered her mouth, realizing what she said. Tails giggled, then kissed her cheek.

"Don't worry Flutters, I love you too." He said as the two embraced. They spent the rest of the day together, neither wanting to leave each other. And so they relaxed, that day having become, and will alway be, one of their best days ever.

 _There, it's finally done man! This one took me forever to finish and I don't know why. Jeez, oh, btw, I don't know if you guys knew, but June 23 was Big Blue's birthday, so HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY SONIC! He's an inspiration to us all. Welp, I'm back guys, and refresh for the last half of this arc. These next few chapters will be pretty chill, so bear with me. I needed this cool down. Anyway, this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	22. Chapter 22

Yes, Yes, Yes… Uh… Yes?

Daily Life Pt 2

(P.O.V. Shadow, Canterlot)

Shadow had followed the train tracks to the place he guessed to be Canterlot. He thought that he wasn't going to be far behind Soler, but once he entered the city, he saw no signs of him. Anywhere.

Where is that hedgehog? He brooded. He scanned the area around him, and from what he could tell, from the way the ponies dressed and the resplendence of the architecture, this is where all the upper-class citizens live. As he walked through the city, none of the ponies seemed to mind him much, probably because of Sonic and the others coming here. He still continued to look around for Soler, still nowhere to be found. He thought that a talking hedgehog would be easy to spot in a crowd such as this. Shadow walked into what seemed to be the center of the city, considering the greater density of ponies walking about and living life. There was a beautiful fountain in the center of the plaza, so he decided to take a seat and try to figure out where Soler could've gone.

This city is bigger than Ponyville, but smaller than Manehattan. I have decent amount of ground to cover. But where to start? He pondered. He then noticed a mare sitting on a bench not too far from him. I should probably start by asking the locals. He walked over to the mare, who seemed to be reading some book she was levitating in front of her face.

"Excuse me ma'am, but can I ask you some questions?" He requested in a polite tone. The mare lowered the book from her face and examined the hedgehog standing in front of her. Shadow could look at her eyes and tell that she was examining everything about him with her sharp, judging eyes. It reminded him of some of the higher class clients he'd had to deal with back on Mobius when he worked for G.U.N. Their eyes were the exact same way, looking for any weakness that they could exploit to their advantage. Once she was done examining him, she relaxed in her seat,

"Yes you may." She responded.

"Very well. Have you seen a white hedgehog come by here?" He started. She thought on the question for a moment, appearing to be trying to remember if she did.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember seeing a white hedgehog come by here. But I do remember seeing a white blur, which I'm guessing is your friend?" Shadow nodded.

"Which way did he go?"

"Well it looked like it was heading up to the castle." She said, gesturing towards the castle. Shadow looked there then back to her.

"Thank you." He said before giving a slight bow. She bowed in return, then levitated her book back up to her face. Shadow started his way up to the castle.

Now that I think about it, he did say something about Luna. I can only guess Princess Luna, which would explain why he would be heading for the castle. He mused to himself. He walked up to the castle gates and could see that there were guards. I have a feeling that they wouldn't just let me walk in. He then used Chaos Control to teleport to the other side of the gate, a yard or so from the guards. He looked back to make sure they didn't notice him, and subsequently went on his way. The halls of this castle were huge. He was a bit awed just seeing how high the ceiling was from the floor. He looked at the intricacies of the place's design and could see that most of it was done by hand, or for these ponies, by hoof.

Knowing Soler, he'd have a field day with this place and learning about its architecture and history. He thought, a faint smile brought to his face from thinking about the hedgehog. The two had a long history, almost as long as his and Sonic's, but he had to admit it. He was probably closer to Soler than that faker. He pushed his thoughts out when he noticed a massive door coming up in front of him. He walked up to the doors and noted how they were stretched from ceiling to floor. He teleported to the other side, cautious of making any sounds. He looked around and could see massive stained glass windows. He walked over to the closest one and examined it. It took him by surprise, seeing Twilight and her friends on the glass. He walked over to the next and they were on it again. This time, there was some weird chimera thing in the middle of them.

"So Twilight and her friends have done deeds for this kingdom." He said aloud.

"Yes. They have done a lot for not only this kingdom, but for Equestria as well. And for that, we are forever grateful." A voice came from behind him. Shadow turned to see an elegant white alicorn that he could only guess to be Princess Celestia.

I thought he would be stunned from seeing me, much like Sonic and Soler were, but he doesn't seem very surprised by me, she thought.

"So you must be Princess Celestia. You look exactly like how the books and paintings portray you, and you appear the exact same age as the pictures too. I can only guess that you have been around for as long as this civilization has been around, watching and ruling over them all." He said to her. She was surprised by his statement, and how much he'd learned.

"So I see you've done your research. Yes, I have been around since this kingdom had first risen. Now I have a question. What are you doing here, Shadow?" She responded. He remembered that he was looking for Soler.

"I'm looking for Soler. He got a message from your sister and came running over. I expect that he came for more than just a friendly visit." He said, putting an emphasis on friendly.

"Oh, I didn't even know Soler was here. And if you said he received a letter from Luna, then I suspect the same. Let's call them, shall we?" She said as she closed her eyes, and her horn started to glow. It glowed for a brief moment, then it stopped and she opened her eyes again.

"I sent Luna a mental message that I wanted to see her, so she should be on her way soon."

"Thank you, Princess." Shadow said as he bowed to her. She bowed back.

"It's no problem. Now that I think about it, Luna has been sending him letters since he left the castle. I wonder?" She said aloud.

"Well Princess, it sounds like she could be having feeling for Soler." Shadow said.

But is he having feelings back? He must be starting to move on from his Luna… Or is he? He himself wondered. The Princess looked surprised by what he said, and was going to say something, but then Luna walked into the room.

"Yes Tia? I got your message. What's the problem…" She said, before noticing that Shadow was standing next to her. Then, she looked back to Celestia, whose face looked a little annoyed, clearly eyeballing Luna.

"Whats wrong, sister? And is this that Shadow the Hedgehog Sonic and his friends told us about?" She asked. Shadow didn't speak, instead looking to the elder sister as she stared down her sister.

"Luna, is Soler here?" She asked. Luna's eyes widened, but she quickly hid her surprised face. But she was not quick enough for them to miss it.

"Sister, what do you mean? Of course Soler isn't here. I mean, if he was here, you'd know he was here." She blathered nervously. Celestia gave her the same knowing face that said she was caught red-hoofed.

"Bring him here." She commanded. Luna was going to make a retort, but was caught in her stare again and sighed defeatedly. She hung her head low as her horn glowed. Then Soler popped into the room in front of her, obviously surprised.

"Ow! Ya know Luna, if this is some joke, it's not too funny." He said to her, just realizing that her head was hung low. "What's wrong?"

"Hello Soler." Celestia said. He instantly cringed upon hearing her voice for once. He slowly turned around to see the Princess glaring at the two, kinda peeved. He stood up and gave his best fake smile.

"Hey Celestia. I didn't know you were here. I mean, I know it is your castle and all, just didn't expect to see you is all. Not saying it isn't great to see you, just wasn't expecting to see you so soon…" He looked at her glare and silenced himself. He then noticed someone was standing next to her. Shadow was giving him his own glare, the one that Soler knew too well. When he saw him he, yelped and hid behind one of Luna's wings. She looked at him, astonished.

I know if he's here, then I might be in some real trouble! He worried.

"Hey Shadow. How's it hanging, buddy?" He spoke nervously. Shadow didn't say anything, keeping his glare on the hedgehog.

"Luna, what is going on here?" Celestia said, taking the attention again. Luna was actually nervous to be in front of her sister, which hasn't happen since they were little fillies.

"Well sister, you see, since Soler has come to the castle, we have spent some nights together." She answered. Celestia raised an eyebrow, awaiting more. Soler stepped up this time.

"Well, you see Princess, I assure you nothing has happened, just so ya know." He said. It didn't help much, so Luna took the lead again.

"Tia, sister, you know that since I've been back, I am always grateful and happy for being back with you. But when it comes to the night, I still feel lonely at times since while I'm awake, the rest of Equestria is asleep. Soler has been up with me, keeping me company. And I do enjoy his company so. He makes me feel wanted, and not like a Princess." She said, causing a slight blush to come to Soler's face that only Shadow seemed to notice. "I'm sorry sister for not telling you that we've been seeing each other, I really am." She said as she sunk her head low.

All eyes were on Celestia simply stared at the two. She eventually sighed, a smile spreading across her face.

"It's fine sister, and I didn't know you were feeling this way. I'm sorry for not noticing or asking you. It's fine that Soler comes, just let me know when he comes." She said. Luna perked up as a big smile spread across her face. She ran over and gave Celestia a big hug.

"Oh thank you Tia! I love you." She said.

"And I love you too, Luna." She responded as the two broke the hug. Seeing the two sisters made Shadow think of him and Soler. He had to admit that out of the other Mobians, he was pretty close to Soler, much more than that faker. Soler and himself had a long past together, not as long as his and Sonic's, but it was a deeper past. Shadow looked at Soler, the white hedgehog beaming at the two sisters, lost in the moment. It made Shadow smile. He couldn't stay mad at Soler for too long, even when he calls him kitten, or over things that matter. He just ends up letting it slide.

What is it about that hedgehog? He wondered to himself. He lost his smile as he walked up to Soler. When Soler saw him, he instantly stiffened up, prepared for Shadow to chew him out. The two even caught the attention of the two Princesses as they watched to see what he was going to do. Shadow looked at him, his crimson stare only making the hedgehog more nervous.

"Soler." He said with his tone serious and direct.

"Y-Yes?" Soler replied anxiously. Shadow then pulled out the Emerald Soler carries and handed it to him, causing him to relax but look at him in confusion.

"You need to stop leaving this behind. You know you're stronger with it." Shadow said. Soler smiled as he took the Emerald.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Shadow." He said to him with a big grin. Shadow only smirked as he started to walk away.

"Leaving so soon, Shadow? Why don't you stay for dinner?" Luna asked him.

"Yes, you did only just get here. Why not get some food?" Celestia insisted. He stopped and turned back to look at them.

"I'm thankful for the offer Princesses, but I'm fine. And I should be back on my way." He said as he bowed then turned towards the door.

"What's wrong, kitten? Scared of a little socializing?" Soler said to him. Shadow stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at him with a genuine death glare.

"I let it slide the first time, hedgehog. Don't push it." He threatened. Soler only smirked as he accepted the challenge.

"Aww… Did I hurt the poor little kitty's feelings?" He mocked. Shadow scowled horribly as he stared down the hedgehog.

"I'd stop if I were you." He replied tersely. The Princesses could feel the seriousness from the hedgehog as they watch their confrontation, slightly nervous.

"Oh, come on, kitten, just stay and get some grub. I mean, I'm sure we can find some cat food for ya." Soler continued. Shadow was now growing visibly angry at the hedgehog as he balled his fists. Soler saw this and only smirked at him.

"Oh, is kitty getting angry? Did I step on kitty's tail again? I'm so sowwy." He further teased. The anger and tension between the hedgehogs was palpable, especially for the Princesses.

"Soler, perhaps you should stop mocking him. He looks like he could charge at any minute." Luna said to him. Soler only continued to smirk broadly.

"Don't worry Luna, we made sure to declaw him a long time ago. Isn't that right, kitten?" He said in response. Shadow's knuckles cracked as his fists tightened.

"Perhaps you want to find out." Shadow countered. Soler smiled, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh, seems like we didn't declaw him just yet huh? Let's just see how much of a scratch he has." He said as the two entered a deathly staring contest, their eyes locked on each other, neither backing down. The Princesses could sense the tension rising, and were waiting to see if they should interfere. Just before either hedgehog took a step, Soler laughed, almost instantly breaking the tension.

"Awe man, you look so peeved, it's priceless. Listen Shadow, you know I'm just joking. I'm grateful that you bought me my Chaos Emerald, but even more thankful that you let us get this break. We all needed it, including you man. So I'll see you back at the castle in awhile man, so we can start that serious training you wanted. Okay?" Soler told him. Shadow sighed and relaxed.

"Just get your little break over with so we can train. I want to make sure you haven't been slacking off on your Chaos Abilities."

"Oh, come on, so that time I beat you when you were outta control doesn't count?" He whined playfully. Shadow smirked.

"Nope. Later hedgehog." He said, then teleported out of the room. The Princesses looked at where Shadow was standing, wondering what just happened. Soler had the biggest grin.

"So… It would seem to be that you and Shadow are close?" Celestia asked.

"Yep. Shadow might seem rough on the outside, but he cares deep down inside. Plus, I know that no mater what might happen, I can always depend on him to back me." He said. The Princesses could tell from the smile on his face, he meant the words he said. Soler looked down at his Chaos Emerald.

And I'll always be there for you too, Shadow. No matter what.

(P.O.V. Twilight, Her Castle)

Twilight was in the library, reading a book that's she read several times before, but she wasn't paying attention to the words. She was too lost in thought to focus on the words that she's read plenty of times. She closed her eyes and then the memories would always crawl their way back in. His red eyes and that Spear in his hand as he stood over her, ready to strike her down.

"Shadow… Shadow, wait. Please! Don't!" She would plead, but to no avail. His eyes had no sign of remorse as he prepared to end her life. She sat there, helpless and unable to even move, let alone cast any spell.

"Shadow, no!" She screamed as he brought the Spear down, making Twilight's eyes snap open quickly. She was sweating a little, the memory has brought a fear of the black hedgehog to her heart. She knew that he wasn't in control of himself and she shouldn't be afraid of him, but everytime she would look at him, that image of him almost killing her would strengthen the fear.

Dang it, Twilight! Why am I so fearful of him when I shouldn't be? I'm the Princess of Friendship! I've dealt with worse, like Chrysalis or Tyrek. And I was scared then, but why is it that Shadow is making me this afraid? She berated herself mentally. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that Shadow had walked into the room, coming back from Canterlot. He looked upon some of the many books, looking for something that would intrigue him. He then noticed that Twilight was sitting on some pillows, reading a book.

Maybe Twilight can give me a recommendation. He thought as he walked up to her.

It's a silly fear. It is! I mean, before that, he hadn't done anything that would make me- Her thought was cut off when she heard Shadow say her name. She looked up to see him standing in front of her, looking at her plainly. She instantly sank away from him modestly as her heartbeat started to pick up. The memories started to replay as she looked at him. She saw the same Shadow that was about to slay her without a second thought. Shadow picked up on her sudden change of demeanor, even though she was doing her best to hide it.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

"Yes!" She squeaked before recentering herself. "I am fine, Shadow. Is there something you need?" She knew that her voice had some shakiness to it. Shadow looked at her with an almost knowing look, but continued.

"Yes. I wanted to get a recommendation from you on any books you think would be a good read." He replied. Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled as she put on a smile.

"Oh. Well, the library has plenty of good books to choose from, so I don't have a specific one I would recommend. I'm sorry, but could you excuse me? I have to do something." Twilight said to him as she got up and left in a hurry. Shadow watched her leave, sensing that something was definitely wrong.

Once he was out of earshot, Twilight ran as fast she could away from the place with her heart still racing. She made her way back to room and shut the doors behind her. She laid her back against the door and slid down as she started to cry.

Why? Just why am I so afraid of him when he's done nothing wrong? She thought to herself as she sobbed.

Shadow had followed Twilight once she left the library. He was curious about what was wrong with her. He followed her back to her room and was sitting outside the door. He was surprised when he heard her cries, but didn't enter just yet.

Once she had calmed downed enough, she got up and walked out to her balcony, the cool night air chilling her face, but not uncomfortably so. She looked up to the moon, almost as if she was searching for an answer. She closed her eyes, but the memories flooded her mind once again. She opened her eyes and fresh tears started to stream down her face as she cried more.

Shadow had entered the room silently once he heard her walk away from the door. He could hear her crying again as he quietly got close to where she was, staying out of sight.

"Why, Celestia, am I so afraid of him?" She asked, to no one, through her sobs. "I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, I'm supposed to be able to forgive others. But when I close my eyes, I just see him when he wasn't himself, when I was so close to death." She looked to the night sky as the tears streamed. Shadow was slightly taken back from hearing this.

She's afraid of me? From when I wasn't in control of myself… He registered as he peered outside, seeing the alicorn sobbing. He felt bad, he only means to cause his enemies fear in their hearts from seeing him, not his allies. He sighed as he walked out of from where he was hiding.

"Twilight." He said to her. She whipped around and fell on her butt, surprised to hear his voice. When she looked up, she saw Shadow, the one that almost killed her, and she felt the same fear again. Shadow slowly walked up to her, and as he did, he could see the pure fear in her as her eyes grew wide and she tried to scoot away from him, though he kept coming closer.

In full panic mode, Twilight was doing all she could to escape the monster before her.

"No, Shadow… Please! Don't! Shadow, please don't!" She screamed as the tears started flowing constantly. She could see him still coming closer, and the Spear in his hand slowly getting over to her, soon to be upon her. That same paralyzing fear returned and almost made her stop breathing. He was right on top of her, standing over her, his raised the Spear, ready to end it.

"Shadow, no. Please. Shadow!" She shrieked as he brought the Spear down but instead of feeling the attack, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back up to see Shadow, but he was normal, and looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"Twilight, snap out of it. I'm not going to hurt you." He said. She looked at him with a blank stare. Then out of nowhere, she buried her face into his fur and bawled her eyes out. Shadow was taken by surprise, having never been in too many situations like this before. He then remembered that Maria used to do this when she was sad, so he would comfort her by wrapping his arms around her and holding her until she was done. As Twilight shed her tears, she felt Shadow wrap his arms around her, holding her close. He held her as she cried, waiting until she slowed down her crying before he let her go. The two were sitting on on the ground across from each other as Twilight's crying subsided.

"Thank you, Shadow." She whispered, with subsiding sniffles. Shadow nodded.

"Now tell me what's going on with you." He said. She avoided his eyes, too embarrassed to look at them directly.

"It's… It's… I've been afraid of you since we got back from the temple, okay." She replied quickly. Shadow looked at her with concern.

"Why?"

"It's because… From when you and Soler fought in the temple and you… You…"

"Almost killed you." He finished her sentence. She nodded.

"Yeah, it was the first time something like that had ever happened to me, and you brought so much fear into me when it happened. I guess I just tried to shrug it off, but it kept coming up whenever I closed my eyes so-"

"The fear never went away." He finished for her. She nodded again, shamefully.

"Well if this was happening, why didn't you come to me when it started?" He asked.

"I… I don't know. I thought that I could just push it aside, but it didn't go away, and plus, you were here, so it only made it worse." She said, then some tears started to well up and come down. "I kept seeing you as that monster that almost killed me and nothing more. I'm so sorry, Shadow." Twilight began to weep once more, expecting Shadow to just leave her there in her tears. Instead, he just lifted her face to where she was looking him in the eyes. His eyes held no anger or hurt in them, but a sort of understanding.

"Twilight. Don't think that you have to handle something like this alone. You know your friends are there for you, and that includes me too. I'm sorry that you had to see me be that way, but I promise you that it will never happen again, and I'll always be here to protect you." He said. Twilight had stopped crying and was looking at the hedgehog, his eyes reinforcing the meaning behind his words. She smiled at him.

"Thank you Shadow." She told him as she wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. He smirked and helped her up.

"No problem. It's getting late now. I'll talk to you tomorrow Twilight, and maybe you can give me another recommendation." He responded as he walked towards the door. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Night, Shadow."

"Night." He said, exiting the room. Twilight thought back to what he said, especially the last few things he said. It caused her to blush, just thinking about it. He helped her get over her fear. And see him in a new light.

Yep. And this chapter is a wrap. Thanks for reading this far into the story guys, it's much appreciated. I'm still taking chapter ideas from you guys on here, or from the link I put up on Chapter 20. So thanks, and this has been Solerwolf, OUT!


	23. Chapter 23

_Let's do this!_

 _ **Chapter 23: Daily Life (Pt 3)**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Canterlot)**

After Shadow left, Soler, and the royal sisters went into the dining hall for dinner. While Celestia sat at the the head of the table, Luna and Soler sat next to each other on the side. The small group had light conversation while they ate.

"So, Soler. What is it like in your world?" Celestia asked.

"Well, it's nothing like this world, that's a start. But my world is a pretty cool place to be, what with Mobians and humans living together. It's cool." He said. This clearly confused the sisters.

"Humans? What are those?" Luna asked.

"Oh. Well humans are like me in the sense of limbs and such, but they are much taller and bigger than Mobians, and have flesh on their bodies instead of fur and such. They wear clothes and stuff. They act like us, but they don't have any of the cool abilities like us though." He explained. The Princesses nodded, taking his word for it.

"They sound like interesting beings." Luna commented. Soler took a sip of his drink before responding.

"Yeah, they can be alright at times."

"So can you tell us about the adventure you've been on?" Celestia requested. Soler thought about which one to tell, so he told the most recent adventure. During the story, the Princesses' facial expressions alternated between shock, awe, concern, and so on. Soler had finished talking about the first two temples when he took a break to get a sip of his drink.

"Wow, this Neo sounds like a horrible being for doing that to Rainbow." Luna said.

"Yes, I'm glad she's okay. And did you really have to fight wendigos to get to the temple?" Celestia asked. Soler looked confused.

"Wendigos?" He asked.

"Yes, the ghost horses you fought."

"Oh, well yeah. And boy they were no cake walk, I'll tell you that. They seemed to be able to control the weather of winter and basically the cold element. Plus, they were like ghosts, so they would just go right through me. So it did take a bit." He said.

"Well yes, they are spirits that inhabit the colder parts of Equestria, and are hostile." Luna commented.

"You're telling me Luna." He teased.

"Yes, and those spiders. Were they really mutated by that Neo into those horrid things?" Celestia queried. He shuddered, remembering the spiders as he nodded to her.

"Yeah, I could go the rest of my life without seeing one of those again." He replied. The memories of the the spiders would still haunt his dreams at times.

"So, do you two want me to continue?" He asked. They both nodded, and so he continued to tell his tale. He finished the story as they all finished their food, and it was getting time for Luna to raise the moon.

"Yeah, and that's all that happened." Soler finished, leaving the sisters awed by what he had gone through.

"So you're saying that there was some plant monster that took the shape of Tails and Fluttershy?" Luna asked. He nodded.

"Probably one of the most creepiest things I've gone through. I mean, besides this one other thing that I shan't remember." He said the last part rather somberly. Celestia looked like she was in thought on something, grabbing his attention.

"Something wrong, Celestia? Was my adventure to intense for you." He inquired with a smirk. She shook her head.

"No, it's not that. It's just the way you said Shadow went that far out of control, to the point he was going to kill. I'm not going to lie, it shakes me a bit." She clarified. Soler could see the distress in her face, as could Luna.

"Listen Celestia, I've know Shadow for a long time. And believe me when I say that normal Shadow would never hurt his friends. When I saw him like that, it was the most worried I'd been in a long time. So I personally promise you he will never try to hurt any of your subjects." He assured the while alicorn. She looked at him and could see the seriousness behind his eyes, and so nodded.

"I trust you Soler, it just shakes me a bit. But not as much as what Twilight went through. That is what breaks my heart, hearing how she was treated." Celestia answered, sadness and concern almost cracking her voice.

"Yes, the way that this Neo treated her makes my blood boil." Luna said.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree with you two more. It makes me mad just thinking about it, which only drives me to stop him more, which I will do." He said, the determination in his aura giving the Princesses confidence in the future.

"Yes, I know you will Soler. Now if you don't mind, I believe it's time for me to go to bed, and for Luna to raise the moon, so I will take my leave. Night sister, night Soler." Celestia said as she got up to leave.

"Night Sister."

"Night Celestia." They said to her. Before she exited the room, she stopped and looked back at the two.

"Now you two don't stay up too late with your 'Talking' now." She told them mischievously. She giggled at the blush it brought to their faces and left them. They sat there for a bit, not knowing what to do next.

"So, Luna. Raising the moon?" Soler questioned. She stood quickly in realization.

"Yes, gotta do that. Want to see how I do it?" She asked. Soler nodded and followed Luna off to her room. They walked out to the balcony and watched as the sun went down. Soler watched as her horn glowed. Then, the moon, as bright and full as it's always been, rose up from the horizon and set into the night sky. Luna's effortless display amazed Soler. The light from the moon reflected off of her eyes again, making them shine in the night, drawing the hedgehog in.

"Wow, just beautiful." He said as he gawked at her.

"What did you say?" She responded, turning to him. He blushed and looked away.

"Oh, I was calling the moon beautiful, ya know." He said a little too quickly. Luna nodded and turned back to the sky. She smirked and blushed a bit because she heard exactly what he said.

"So Luna, what about the stars. Where are they?" He asked. She smiled sweetly at him, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"Just watch the sky. This is my favorite part." She said. Then her horn glowed again as he watched billions of stars spread out, filling across the night sky. The spectacle of watching the moon and stars come out for the night only caused his amazement to grow. Luna watched his amazed face watch the night sky come to life. His emerald eyes just full of wonder, which she loved to see.

"So, did you like that show?" She asked. His amazement broken, he focused back on the black alicorn that made it all happen.

"Yeah, it was amazing Luna." He said with a smile. It brought a slight blush to her face as she smiled back at him. The two went back to looking at the night sky, simply enjoying the night and each other's company. Soler couldn't put his finger on it, but he just always loved to be around Luna. Ever since they first met awhile back, he's always enjoyed being around her.

 _What is it about you Luna that makes me want to get closer to you?_ He wondered.

"Hey, Soler." Luna said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, what's up?" He responded.

"Do you want to go to the garden and relax?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah. That sounds good." He answered. She smiled and her horn lit up as she teleported the two there. When they got there, Soler landed on his butt again.

"Why do I keep landing my butt when you teleport me?" He whined as he stood up.

"I honestly don't know. It surprises me as well. But it is funny when it happens." She answered as she attempted not giggling at the hedgehog. Soler sighed

"Well, if it wasn't for the fact that I find that giggle adorable, I'd say cut it out." He stated matter-of-factly as he brushed himself off. Luna stopped giggling and blushed.

"What did you say?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing. So do you want to take a seat next to me, Princess?" He replied politely. She looked at him knowingly and Soler sat next to her as she lied down on the grass. The pair remained close to each other, looking up at the celestial bodies as they shined brightly in the night sky. Soler closed his eyes and relaxed, the night wind blowing through his quills, providing him a complete sense of calm. Having Luna by his side only added to his enjoyment of the night.

Luna couldn't help but watch him enjoy himself, knowing that he more than deserved it after all that he'd been through lately. The Princess of the Night admired him for all he's done for his friends, and she only wishes to be able to do something for him, but she didn't know what. She glanced back over to him, and saw him smiling, simply enjoying himself. She smiled, also content that, for now, this is what she could do for him. Soler lost his smile as he opened his eyes and looked directly at Luna.

"Hey Luna. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He queried. She blushed from his direct view but nodded anyway.

"Yes, you may." She responded. He looked away a bit before asking, which made Luna wonder what his question was.

"Earlier, you said, 'ever since you came back.' But from you and Celestia's old castle, you guys have been around for a long time, but you said you came back. Where did you go?" He asked. Luna lost her blush, and her whole demeanor seemed to change in a mere instant. The white hedgehog noticed the shift and instantly regretted asking.

"Listen, Luna. If it's something you don't want to talk about, forget I asked." He tried. Luna sighed and shook her head.

"No. It's fine, Soler. I'll tell you. It's just… It's something I was afraid of telling you." She revealed as she looked up at him with some of the saddest eyes he'd ever seen. It instantly broke his heart, but he kept it together to listen. "Well… The reason why I came back is because I once tried to take over Equestria." Soler was dumbstruck. He never expected to hear that. Before he asked anything, Luna put up a hoof to sign that there was more.

"I tried to put Equestria into eternal night because I was jealous of my sister and wanted to rule Equestria. But that greed and jealousy I had of my sister turned me into a monster called Nightmare Moon, who still lives inside of me to this day." She admitted sadly as she looked away from him, utterly ashamed of her past.

"You were afraid of telling me this? But why?" He asked.

"I didn't want to push you away by you knowing how much wrong I've done in the past. And I didn't want you to think I'm, I'm some monster with Nightmare Moon still being a part of me." She confided as a few tears fell. Seeing Luna like this hurt Soler. He tried to reach out to her, but she avoided his touch, embarrassed.

"Luna…" He murmured as soothingly as he could as she sniffled, turned away from him. Soler then took Luna by surprise as he turned her around to face him and tightly embraced her. Her eyes grew wide from the sudden embraced, and looked up at him as he looked down on her.

"Luna, don't ever think that something that happened in your past would make me stay away from you. You're one of the most wonderful ponies I've met in this world, and there's nothing that could keep me away from you. Okay?" He told her. She looked at the hedgehog with watery eyes and nodded, smiling.

"Okay Soler. Thank you." She breathed as she rested her head on his chest, listening to the lulling beat of his heart. He smiled as the two sat in the embrace, never wanting this moment to end. But the time eventually came for Celestia to raise the sun, and for Luna to rest once more. The two broke their embrace, almost mourning the end of their hug, and rose from their sitting position. Soler giggled as Luna yawned.

"Sounds like somepony is getting sleepy." He teased before he yawned, causing a giggle to slip from her.

"Yes, and it seems some-hedgehog is sleepy too." She joked in return. He laughed a bit and agreed. They both watched as the moon left the sky while the sun started rising into the sky.

"Welp, I guess I'll head to my guestroom for the morning and get a little rest before heading back to Ponyville. I enjoyed our wonderful night together though. Night Luna." He said as he began walking away. Luna stopped him before he got to the archway,

"What's up?" He asked.

"Well, I was going to offer that you could sleep with me for the morning, before you leave." She said with a huge blush of her face. He also blushed from the question.

"Uhh, sure. I don't mind." He replied. Luna smiled as the two went off to her room and went straight to bed. Soler only slept till midday before he woke up to head back. Luna was snuggled up next to him, grinning. He beamed sweetly at her. He hated having to get up, but he had to get back, his deal with Shadow in the back of his mind. Soler got up from the bed as quietly as he could and put his shoes back on. He picked up his Emerald and looked back at the sleeping Luna with a smile.

"Later, Luna." He whispered and teleported away.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Twilight's)**

Soler teleported in front of Twilight's Castle. It was now midday, and he could see that the ponies of Ponyville were hustling and bustling about in the little town. He smiled, seeing the town again always seemed to make him happy, what with the tranquility and all. He took in a deep breath and let it out before he entered the castle. He walked through the castle, and as he walked past the map room, he saw no one there hovering over the map. Seeing that everyone was out enjoying themselves made him smile. He continued walking through the castle and yawned a bit.

"Man, still a little tired. Maybe I'll nap a bit later or something." Soler said to himself. He continued his stroll as he came upon the library. He heard voices in discussion coming from it.

"Yes, and that's how Sombra was defeated the second time." He heard Twilight's voice.

"Hmm, interesting. So this Crystal Heart was able to destroy him completely, and it's powered by the positive feeling of the citizens?" He heard Shadow say in response. Soler peeked inside and found Twilight and Shadow sitting on some bean bag chairs, surrounded by books. They had one open sitting in between them. Unable to see the cover, he guessed it was on history or something.

"Yes. To be quite honest, I still haven't fully understood how it does that. I mean, when my brother and Candace had Flurry Heart, her cry was strong enough to shatter the Crystal. It took alot to get it back together before the whole kingdom froze over, but thankfully, Sunburst knew what to do to help." She added. Shadow nodded his head, appearing to have had another question in his head. It looked like he let it go.

"Interesting. And the baby incident, you just said it was part of that crystallizing thing?" He asked. Twilight nodded her head.

"Yeah, it was." She answered brightly. Soler smirked while watching the two, but decided it was time to make his entrance.

"Seems like you two are getting along swimmingly. It's quite adorable to watch, actually." He said as he walked in, pulling their attention away from their discussion. "Ya know, you two would make quite the cute couple." Twilight went wide-eyed and glanced at Shadow, instantly blushing at the thought of them being together. Shadow, on the other hand, only gave the white hedgehog a bland look like he normally would.

"Well I didn't expect to see you here so soon. How's Luna?" He asked. Soler remembered their night together, and the morning after, which made him blush a bit.

"Oh she's fine." He said. Shadow smirked from his reaction.

"So where are Sonic and the others?" Soler asked. Twilight snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Well Sonic is probably somewhere with Rainbow. Knuckles has been staying on the farm with AJ, so he's there. And Tails has also decided to start staying with Fluttershy, so he's there. Pinkie is probably at SugarCube Corner and Rarity is at her boutique." Twilight explained.

"Where's Spike and Starlight?"

"Well Starlight is hanging out with Trixie, and Spike is probably helping Rarity at her shop." Soler nodded,

"Seems like everyone is enjoying their time of rest, huh? Well I think I'll go see what they're up to and leave you two lovebirds alone." Soler said as he began to walk out the room. His continued joking made Twilight blush again.

"We're… We're not lovebirds." She said as she looked to Shadow, whose face was still calm and collected.

"Soler, don't think that I haven't forgotten-"

"Yeah yeah, Shadow, I know. But I think the training could wait till tomorrow, at least. I still need some more rest man." Soler interjected. He stopped at the doorway before leaving. "And Shadow…" Shadow looked at him giving him his full attention. Soler looked back at him.

"I'm glad that you're relaxing. You deserve it. Later." He added, leaving them to their books.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Ponyville)**

After Soler left the castle, he started to heading towards Ponyville to check up on his friends. He walked through Ponyville and was pleased to be greeted by the different ponies that lived in Ponyville. It always made him feel happier. He continued his stroll to the park, but once he got there, something hit him in the back of his head. He was surprised when he turned and discovered a flying turtle.

"Well you're the last thing I expected to see." He said to it. The turtle had a sort of proeller tied around its shell, which allowed him to fly. The turtle had what looked like a natural sleepy face, as if it could go to sleep at any time. "Well aren't you cute little guy. Well, at least I think you're a guy." The turtle nodded to him, confirming that he was a boy.

"Okay then, so what are you doing out here little guy?" Soler added as he scratched the turtle's chin, much to his approval.

"Tank! Where are you?" He heard a familiar voice call. The next thing Soler knew, Rainbow came flying and Sonic joined on-foot, both stopping in front of Soler.

"Soler? You're back!" Sonic said as the two fist bumped.

"Yep, just got back. You two are looking good." He responded.

"Yeah. We feel good too, thanks." Sonic said.

"Hey, you found Tank!" RD said as she scooped up the turtle. "Thanks, Soler. And I'm glad to see you're good."

"Yeah. Feels good to relax, ya know? So, what has the lovely couple been up to since I've been gone?" He asked. They ended up finding a place to sit so Sonic and RD could get him up to speed on things.

"Wait, you're telling me that both Tails and Knuckles have gotten into relationships? And not only that, but they asked you for advice on the matter, Sonic?" Soler replied in disbelief. Sonic smiled cockily and rubbed his finger under his nose.

"Yep, you know it!" He said, his pride obviously being ignited.

"Yeah, Fluttershy came to me for advice right before Tails asked her to be his special somepony, I guess my advice worked." She said.

"And what advice was that?" Soler asked.

"To be spontaneous, of course." said a prideful RD. Soler almost deadpanned from her advice.

 _Fluttershy and spontaneous? Those are two words that don't go together._ Soler thought. He sighed and stood up.

"Well, I think I'm going to go see how they're doing now and leave you three to whatever it was you guys were doing. So, later guys." Soler said as he walked away.

"Later Soler." Rainbow said. She looked to Sonic to see that he wasn't even paying attention, caught up in his pride. Rainbow sighed and looked at Tank, who only gave her the same expression.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Sweet Apple Acres)**

Soler left the park and had made his way up to the Apple Farm to check up on Knuckles and AJ. He walked up to the farmhouse and looked around for them.

"Wonder where they are?"

"Are you lookin' for that red feller and Applejack?" He heard an older voice say. He turned to the house to see an old mare with light green fur, and a gray mane and tail sitting in a rocker.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I am. Know where I could find them Miss…?"

"They should be heading back from the field any minute now. And I'm Granny Smith. You must be one of those hedgehog things. Sonic, was it?" She interjected. Soler smiled nervously.

"No ma'am. I'm Soler. Sonic is the blue one." He corrected politely.

"Oh yeah, Soler. Well you can wait here for'em if ya want." She replied.

"Thanks." He said, when the door to the farmhouse opened up and Applebloom came out the door.

"Hey Granny, have you-" She stopped when she noticed Soler was there, "SOLER! You're back!" She ran up and hugged the hedgehog with a scream. He smiled as he picked her up and brought her in for a hug.

"Yep, I'm back. How have ya been?" He asked as he put her down. The two sat on the porch as Applebloom told him all about what she and her friends have been doing. As the two talked, Applejack and Knuckles approached the house from the field. Soler and Applebloom ended their conversation when they noticed them.

"Well, how's it hangin' partners? You enjoy a hard day's labor?" Soler asked them. Knuckles smirked.

"Well I would say the same, but I don't think you would know an honest day's work." He retorted as the two fist bumped. "Good to see you, hedgehog."

"Same here, echidna. And you too, AJ." he said.

"Likewise. How ya been?" She responded as they all sat on the porch together. Applejack leaned her head on Knuckle's who wrapped his arm around her. Soler grinned.

"Well I've been alright, how have you two been? You know, now that you two are all lovey-dovey and stuff." He asked. Knuckles looked at AJ, smiling sweetly at each other.

"It's been going well." Knuckles said.

"Yeah, things couldn't be better." AJ chimed in. Soler smiled at the couple. Applebloom and Granny had gone back into the house by this time, which left Soler and the two outside.

"So Soler, you ready for tomorrow? I mean, since you're back, I'm guessing you're going to keep your end of the deal." Knuckles asked. Soler sighed but nodded.

"Yeah, I already told Shadow that we'll start it tomorrow."

"Does Sonic remember?" Knuckles asked.

"I forgot to tell him, but I'm sure he'll remember." He said while AJ wondered what was going on tomorrow.

"Uh, mind tellin' me what's going on tomorrow?" She inquired.

"Oh, you'll see tomorrow, AJ. Don't worry." Knuckles answered. With that que, Soler stood.

"Well before it gets dark, I gotta go check up on Tails. I'll see you guy tomorrow." The white hedgehog said as he left.

"Later."

"See ya tomorrow, " Knuckles and AJ said before heading into the house.

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Fluttershy's Cottage)**

Soler left the farm, and since it was close to the outskirts of the town, Fluttershy's place wasn't too far of a was setting in when he reached the place, and the lights were still on, so he knocked on the door. At first, there was no response, but then Soler heard a voice.

"I got it, Flutters!" He heard Tails say before the door opened to show the yellow fox. His eyes widened from seeing Soler as he rushed him for a hug.

"Soler!"  
"It's good to see you too, Tails. How's it going?"

"It's been great. How have you been?" The two-tailed fox said. Before Soler could respond, Fluttershy came into view.

"Soler, you're back. It's so good to see you." She said cheerfully. He smiled.

"Yeah, it's good to be back."

"Oh, won't you come in for a bit? I know it must be uncomfortable standing for so long." She said. Soler agreed, and they all went inside. Once they got inside, they all sat around a table.

"Oh, do you want some tea?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, no, I'm good but thanks. I probably won't be here for too long. I just wanted to check in on you guys since I've heard you two are a thing now, so congrats for the both of you." He said. Tails and Fluttershy looked at each other and smiled before Tails put his hand over her hoof.

"Thanks, Soler."

"Yes, thank you. I'm not going to lie, I was so afraid to tell Tails how I felt beforehand but I decided, to take Rainbow's advice and be spontaneous." She said somewhat confidently. Tails smiled and kissed her on the cheek, which made her blush.

"And it seems that it worked." Tails added. Soler could feel all the lovey dovey in the air with all his friends (besides Shadow), which made him feel a little down for some reason. But he wouldn't, couldn't, show it.

"Yeah, I talked to Rainbow earlier today, and she told me the same thing. And to be honest, I didn't think you had it in you, but it appears that I was wrong." Soler said. She nodded.

"Oh, enough about us. What's been up with you?" Flutters asked.

"Yeah, where have ya been?" Tails chimed in.

"Well, I was only staying at the castle since yesterday, and uhh, only came back to day. I went to visit Luna and Celestia to just check up on them, ya know." Soler replied.

"Well, it's good to have you back. And I can't wait for tomorrow." Tails said. Soler nodded.

"Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a day, ain't it?" He stated. Fluttershy's eyes said that she was curious about what they were talking about.

"Don't worry. Just wait till tomorrow, Flutters, you'll see what we're talking about. And with that, I think I'll take my leave." He said as he got up to leave. The couple walked him to the door and watched him leave.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Yes, see you." Tails and Fluttershy said as Soler made his way back to the castle for a night's rest.

 _And cut! That's a wrap on this chapter folks! I know I say this often, but really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you guys for sticking with me this long, I really do. Well then, there's only a few more chill chapters before it's time for the second half of the first arc (And that means it's near its end). Anyways, thanks again, and I hope you have been enjoying it. Also, the chapter ideas are still welcomed, so don't be afraid. Welp, this is Solerwolf, OUT!_


	24. Chapter 24

_LLLet's get ready to RRRUMBLLLLE!_

 _ **Chapter 24: Battle Royale**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Twilight's Castle)**

Soler rose to a bright morning, thanks to Celestia. He yawned a bit before getting out of bed, sliding into his shoes, and heading to the restroom. He used the restroom and, before leaving, splashed some water on his face, to wake himself up. Once he was finished, he headed out of the room and to the kitchen for some breakfast. When he got to the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to see Shadow sitting at the table, with a newspaper this time.

" _NEW VISITORS? ARE THEY FRIEND OR FOE?"_ Read the headlines on the paper. Soler rolled his eyes at the title and went to make some cereal.

"Morning, Soler." Shadow said without looking up from his paper.

"Morning, Shadow. Hey, does that paper have…?"

"I already took out the comics and left them on the counter for you." Shadow interrupted. Soler looked around and found his favorite section of any paper waiting for him. He smiled as he took the paper and his cereal and sat down to eat.

"You know, it amazes me how you can be so interested in archaeology and history, but still love to read the comics from a paper." Shadow commented. Soler giggled at the comic he was reading before responding.

"Well excuse me for wanting to still have a kid inside of me. And besides, I like to go out to the place to learn the history instead of just reading it, like you do." Soler said. Shadow shook his head, but continued to read. "So what part of the paper are you on now?"

"It seems to be the idle gossip." Shadow answered.

"Anything interesting?"

"No, it's talking about some blueblood prince guy and his love life." Shadow stated rather plainly. Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and Sonic entered the kitchen.

"Morning," Shadow and Soler said in unison.

"Morning." The four said in return.

"Hey, how about I make some breakfast?" Spike suggested.

"Sure, Spike. I'll help." Twilight offered as the two went to start breakfast. Sonic sat next to Soler, and peered at what he was reading.

"Are those the comics? Oh! You gotta let me read'em, man, please." He pleaded to the white hedgehog.  
"Alright, alright. Here, take it." Soler said, giving the blue hedgehog the paper. As a giddy Sonic started digesting the content, Soler finished his cereal and put it away. Shadow placed his paper down and gave him a knowing look.

"Ready?" He asked Soler. Soler sighed but nodded.

"Ready. Know a place where we could have it?" He asked.

"Hey, what are you two ready for?" Starlight asked in curiosity. Soler smirked at the question,

"Well, you see-"

"We're talking about some training. Do you know an open place we could go to?" Shadow cut off Soler, who sank down in his seat.

"Well I think that there's a place outside of Ponyville you guys could use. But what kind of training are you doing?" She responded after a second of thought.

"Just some light sparring is all, and thanks. Soler, you ready to go?" Shadow said as he stood.

"Yeah, sure. Sonic, you ready?" Soler asked. Sonic was too busy with the comic to pay any attention to him. "Sonic… Sonic… SONIC!" The shouting got Sonic's attention.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You ready for training?" Soler asked. Sonic He looked down at his comics sadly, then back up to his friend.

"Yeah, I guess comics and breakfast can wait. Let's go." He sighed. Twilight and Spike had just finished cooking when the hedgehogs were about to leave.

"Wait, where are you guys going? Breakfast only just got done." She asked.

"We're going to some place outside of Ponyville to train." Soler said as they left.

"Well, could you wait until we finish eating so I could get the others?" Twilight asked.

"Just catch up when you're done." Sonic said. Then they were gone.

 **(P.O.V. none, outside Ponyville)**

The three hedgehogs made it to an area just outside of Ponyville, just as Starlight had said. It was a very spacious area with few trees and a massive array of flowers.

"Man, this place is perfect for a picnic." Sonic said, taking in the scenery.

"Yeah, I could definitely have a picnic here." Soler agreed.  
"Well we didn't come here for a picnic, now did we?" Shadow retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, we know. So how do you want to start this? A simple free for all?" Sonic asked as he started to stretch.

"Might as well." Soler added as he stretched also.

"Fine, but hold nothing back." Shadow assented. The three then separated from each other and got into fighting positions. They stared at each other, wondering who was going to make the first move. The wait ended when Shadow threw two Chaos Spears one at each of the other hedgehogs.

Soler dodged it and charged right for Shadow in an attempt to close the gap. Sonic dodged the attack and got into a spin dash as he charged an attack of his own. Soler closed the gap between him and Shadow and began to fight his black counterpart in hand-to-hand combat. Soler knew just randomly trying to get a hit on Shadow wouldn't work, so he was doing his best to just get an opening on Shadow. Shadow could tell from Soler's strikes that he was planning something. All the while, Sonic's attack had fully charged, a light blue aura engulfing him.

 _Ready? Go!_ Sonic thought as he rocketed toward the two hedgehogs in the midst of combat. Soler and Shadow were still deadlocking, but Soler felt the need to create an opening, so he sped up his attacks. Shadow was taken so much by surprise that he had trouble keeping up. Right then, Soler finally got the opening he worked so hard for, but instead of attacking, he had to duck a spin dash attack. Sonic had come rocketing faster than Shadow could dodge, and hit him square in the stomach, sending him flying a few yards back. As Sonic revelled in his attack, he forgot that Soler was below him. Realization came all too late as Soler hit him hard with an uppercut that sent him into the air and back a few feet.

"Don't let your guard down, Blue." Soler mocked. Sonic got back up and glared at him.

"It's not over yet." Sonic declared as he charged back at Soler. Shadow got back up from Sonic's attack and saw the blue hedgehog in the midst of combat with Soler. His anger flaring, he charged back into the battle.

As the three battled on, the rest of the group had finally made their way to them.

"I wonder why they couldn't have waited until we were all together." Twilight said

as she and the others made their way to the area.

"Yeah, that hedgehog can be so impatient." Rarity added.

"Well that's Sonic for you, and Soler tends to just go with his flow. So yeah," Tails

responded.

"Well they could've at least waited until after breakfast." Starlight chimed in. The conversation halted when they reached the area and saw the hedgehogs in question duking it out with each other, as if their lives depended on it. The girls looked on in shock at the sight. Sonic, Soler, and Shadow looked like they were fighting to the death, evidenced by their uncharacteristically gravely ruthless expressions joined by the strength of the attacks they threw at each other.

"What are they doing?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Man, they started the fun without me!" Knuckles yelled out as he charged into the fray. The others watched in disbelief and turned to Tails for an explanation. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"They do this all the time. It's fine." He promised. Soler landed a few feet from Sonic and watched as he and Shadow traded blows. The white hedgehog wiped the sweat from his brow. Before he could rejoin the fray, he was suckerpunched in the jaw hard enough to send him flying back a few yards. The cracking sound of the punch making contact actually made Shadow and Sonic pause their fighting for a moment. Knuckles smiled and cracked his knuckles while they gawked.

"Now I'm part of the fray." He remarked, charging straight for Sonic and Shadow.

The ponies, as well as Tails and Spike, all gasped and winced when they saw Soler struck down. He was laid flat on the ground, as close to lifeless as one could be without being dead.

"Knuckles could've held back a bit." Applejack said under her breath as she watched him fight Sonic and Shadow. He was an excellent fighter, but he wasn't landing too many blows since the two hedgehogs had superior speed. They did everything they could to dodge him.

"Is Soler going to be okay?" Pinkie asked worriedly. The hedgehog in question tried to stand up, failing to even get to his feet before falling back to the ground.

"I, uh, think he'll be okay." Tails said. The girls weren't convinced, but continued to watch the fight. Rainbow particularly enjoyed watching the bout.

"Come on, Sonic! Beat'em already!" She cheered, eliciting blank stares from the other spectators. "What? Of course I'm gonna cheer on my guy. Yeah! You can do it, Sonic!" The others sighed and continued to watch, that is, until Applejack joined in with her.

"Yeah Knux, show'em how it's done!" She exclaimed. Now, the group turned on AJ. "Well RD has a point, might as well cheer'em on." And with that, Twilight joined in as well.

"Come on Shadow, you can do it." She encouraged.

"Uh, Soler! You can do it. I believe in you." Starlight added, joining in on the cheering. The others became fired up in their sideline support for each of the fighters. Fluttershy realized that all of them were cheering except for Tails.

"You're not going to cheer for one of them?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Nah. They're all my friends, and I want them all to do their best, so I normally don't pick a side. Ya know?" He explained. Fluttershy nodded in understanding and continued watching the fight.

Knuckles had made ground in the fight, having gotten a few good hits in on Sonic. He even managed to throw Shadow aside in order to focus more on Sonic, who was still trying to recover. Knuckles kept pace with the hedgehog by throwing a fury of jabs at the blue blur. Sonic did his best to dodge them, but eventually, Knuckles got in another strong hit, followed by another hook that sent him to the ground. Knuckles didn't have time to boast, for Shadow was upon him, sending a heel kick to the side of his head, barely stunning him. Shadow followed up with a series of swift kicks and punches, trying to gain some ground on the red echidna. It only took a moment for the experienced Knuckles to find the rhythm of his strikes and take advantage of a brief opening to counter the black hedgehog. Knuckles caught Shadow's punch and tugged him in for a heavy headbutt, and a powerful uppercut to the jaw.

Soler tried to stand again and, before hitting the ground again, caught his balance, electing to kneel instead. Knuckles' attack had made his vision blurry, and his head was ringing. He squinted, looking around even though everything was a blur beyond the colors of his friends. He picked apart three figures: red, black, and blue, moving around each other. He groggily stood, his sight and hearing impaired. Despite the ringing in his ears, Soler did his best to keep his balance as he started to walk towards the red blob. That walk slowly turned into a jog, and then into a run. His vision slowly returning, Soler could start to make out shapes, but the ringing hadn't stopped. He zeroed in on the red target. Right before he was upon it, he jumped and dropkicked it in the face with as much force as he could muster.

The kick that caught Knuckles entirely by surprise sent him back a few feet, crashing into the ground. Soler landed on his side right after the kick, still trying to regain his senses. Sonic stood back up and could see that Knuckles was on the ground a few feet away, and Soler was on the ground in front of him. But what concerned him was that Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

 _Where did he go?_ He worried as he looked around. There weren't any trees in the area for him to hide behind, or in. And the only others he saw were his friends standing a distance away. Suddenly, his ear twitched and he rolled to the side, evading a Chaos Spear that seemed to come from nowhere. He looked on the ground and saw that Soler was still on the ground, so it had to be Shadow. He dodged another Spear shot out at him from behind, still scanning for Shadow.

 _Where is he?_ Sonic wondered. Then, he saw some of the flowers around him swaying, in a different direction from the rest. It hit him, Shadow was running around him so fast he couldn't see him. Sonic then started to charge wind in his palms. Once the wind had charged to its peak, he released the attack.

" _SONIC WIND!"_ He shouted, and a massive gust of wind formed around him and created a cyclone as it spread out.

The group watching them fight was amazed by the power they all held. The wind was strong, blowing their manes around. It even made it difficult to not to fall over!

"The wind is so strong!" Twilight yelled her voice, barely audible over the loud wind.

"Yeah, this wind is as strong as when we had give water from the lake to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow commented, landing herself.

"Has he alway had this much power?" Starlight asked Tails.

"Well at first, he could control the wind a bit for just a few straightforward attacks. But the practice he's been getting throughout all of his adventures has made it this strong!" Tails tried to explain.

"Well it's mighty strong!" AJ added.

Knuckles had recovered and was doing his best to not get blown away. Soler was slowly getting his senses back, the ringing had faded and his vision was returning back to normal. But now, all he heard was the sound of the intense wind all around him. Once his vision was completely back, he looked around and could see that he was in the center of was seemed to be a massive cyclone of swirling wind. He was somewhat amazed at the sight, his quills were swirling around him. He looked behind himself to see Sonic with his hands out, generating the wind. Sonic was focused on keeping the wind up, trying to draw out Shadow.

The hedgehog in question had stopped running and was now trying to not get caught up in the wind. Sonic could vaguely see what looked like Shadow standing still outside the wind. He smirked and then proceeded to increase the speed and velocity of the wind. Knuckles couldn't keep his grip as he screamed, the wind sucking him in. Shadow couldn't maintain his hold either, and was also drawn into the wind. Sonic let the wind carry the two up a bit more before dissipating the wind all together. It stopped so abruptly that the area was instantaneously overwhelmed with silence. Soler gawked in awe of Sonic's power. Sonic caught a glimpse of his face and smirked.

"Impressed?" He joked. Soler shook his head and stood.

"Maybe for a second, but it's over now." Soler retorted. Sonic only shook his head.

"Well then. Back to it?"

"Back to it." Soler answered, and the two boomed off. Sonic and Soler ran around the area at high speeds, each trying to get an attack on the other. There were brief moments when they clashed that they could be seen, but then they would disappear once more in their running. Shadow and Knuckles landed hard on the ground, taking a minute to recover from Sonic's last attack. The two hedgehogs were running so fast that the others couldn't keep up, visually-speaking. Neither one of the hedgehogs could get the upper hand on the other as they clashed again and again with all they had. The two eventually clashed one last time, sliding away from each other a distance.

"It seems we're at an impasse." Soler commented. Sonic nodded as the two entered a stare down. Then, Shadow and Knuckles groggily came to their feet.

"Ow. That's gonna leave a bruise tomorrow." Knuckles said.

"Good tactic, faker." Shadow admitted. They all stared each other down, waiting to see what's going to happen next.  
"Hey, let's make a new rule." Sonic said, gaining everyone's attention."Not that it'll make a difference, but powers allowed." They all gave him a knowing stare, evoking only confusion from the blue hedgehog.

"What?"

"Dude, we kinda assumed that since you literally just used your Sonic Wind." Soler remarked. Sonic gave an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah, that is true." He replied sheepishly. With sighs, they returned to their battle stances.

"Well, if powers are allowed-" Knuckles started as his fists ignited into flames, "Then I can stop holding back." Sonic smiled as wind started to swirl lightly around him.

"Same here." He added as he and Knuckles prepared to strike. Soler looked from them to Shadow, who was looking directly at him. His hands started to spark with Chaos Energy.

"Now it's time to see if you've been slacking on your Chaos Training." Shadow said, creating a Spear. Soler smirked as, he too, created a Chaos Spear.

"Well there's only one way to find out." He taunted Shadow. They all then charged right back into the fight, Sonic against Knuckles, and Soler against Shadow. All giving it their all.

Knuckles' punches were already strong, but they're at least ten times more dangerous while coated in fire. Knuckles threw his punches wildly, and Sonic was stuck just dodging them. He could feel the heat emanating from Knuckles' fist every time they came close to hitting him, which only made Sonic want to avoid getting punched even more. He waited for an opening, but Knuckles knew how to keep his defence up, even while on the attack. Knuckles knew he was getting to Sonic because his dodging was getting sloppier. Eventually, Sonic slipped up, and Knuckles took his chance, unleashing a series of strikes on Sonic. He knocked the air out of him with a few straight jabs to the chest, then sent him into the air with a strong uppercut. Knuckles jumped into the air above the hedgehog. Sonic couldn't get out the way, the force that sent him flying was too great for him to be able to move. Knuckles hit Sonic in the stomach as rapid descent began. As they fell, the fire from Knuckles' gloves grew to the point that the two appeared to be rocketing to the ground. Sonic was in burning pain, but couldn't do anything to stop it. They both crashed to the ground.

" _AVALANCHE CRASH!"_ Knuckles shouted when a crater formed from the impact of the attack. Sonic looked like a broken ragdoll after the attack, just lying there. Knuckles stood up, smirking in admiration of his work.

"And that's how it's done, hedgehog." He said confidently, patting off the rest of the flames from his gloves. He started to walk away, but stopped when he felt a hand on his leg.

"It's not over yet." Sonic said. Knuckles looked down, surprised to see he was still conscious. Sonic smirked as the wind started to swirl around them. Knuckles tried to escape his grip, but Sonic was latched on tight. The wind became increasingly stronger as it picked up speed. Knuckles could feel himself being picked up by the wind, the only thing keeping him to the ground was Sonic, who at that same moment let go of his leg, letting the wind carry Knuckles up into the air.

"Not again!" He yelled as he was dragged into the air. Sonic groggily stood himself up as he let the wind rush through his quills. Running always refreshed him, and the current of the wind passing through his quills helped refresh him even more. He watched as Knuckles was dragged higher into the vortex. Sonic then got into a spin ball and started to charge up his attack. He had only charged for a few seconds when he dashed into the current of the vortex, letting it take him up, still in his spin ball. The wind current increased his spin speed as he drew closer to Knuckles. Once he was on level with him, he unleashed his attack,

"SONIC WIND DANCE!" The blue hedgehog shouted as he executed a barrage of dash attacks on Knuckles. Sonic was jumping from the wind into a vulnerable Knuckles, who was suspended in the middle of the vortex. The attack didn't last more than a quick minute before Sonic rose above Knuckles. He exited his spin ball and did a flip, rebalancing himself. He lifted his leg and started to channel wind in his leg. The whole time, a battered Knuckles was slowly coming towards him. Once he was charged, Sonic dropped towards Knuckles, his leg ready.

"HELIX DROP!" He bellowed as his wind covered heel struck the red echidna in his abdomen. When they hit the ground, they made the crater even bigger on impact, and the wind vortex seemed to shatter once they hit ground. Sonic got up from his attack and fell down on his butt, his breathing harsh. He looked down to Knuckles, who was opening his eyes and breathing hard as well. He just stared at the sky, drained.

"Hey, hedgehog. Wanna call it for the day?" He asked, the exhaustion clearly audible.

"Yeah man, let's call it. Nice fighting, by the way." Sonic said.

"Yeah, same for you. I'm gonna be feeling this fight for a while."

"Yeah man, same here." He responded. The two shared a shaky fist bump and watched as Soler and Shadow's fight began nearing its end.

Soler and Shadow were teleporting around and clashing with dual Chaos Spears. The two appeared and entered close combat. Shadow swinging his Spears at Soler, who blocked while trying to counterattack. Neither were able to get direct hit on the other, clashing one last time with the Spears.

"Toldya I haven't been slacking." Soler told the black hedgehog as they separated.

"I see. Glad to finally see that you actually decided to practice a bit. Anyway, I think it's time we finished this." Shadow said as his two Spears disappeared.

"Yeah, I agree." Soler responded as his two Spears disappeared. Shadow's quills started to glow with a red aura, moving around wildly with power.

 _So he's going all out? Welp, I shouldn't disappoint._ Soler thought as now his quills and the streaks in them started to glow with a cyan aura, also moving wildly. The two got into a stare down, the power they were releasing was rushing around.

The group watching them could feel the power they gave off, and it was incredible.

 _This power could rival even the Princesses!_ Twilight thought as she observed with the others. Fluttershy was becoming a bit overwhelmed by the power and started backing away. Tails saw this and held her close. She jumped at his first touch, but once she realized it was him, she nuzzled herself into him. She looked up to him and was greeted by one of his comforting smiles.

 _Yeah, they are going all out this time. I wonder why?_ He thought.

"Man, who knew they held this much strength." Rainbow commented.

"Yes, it seems that they really do be holding back." Rarity agreed.

"Yeah, those two always seem to get like that." Sonic added as he and Knuckles came limping to the group, if only slightly. The two looked like they went through the fight of their lives, but had some of the best smiles on their faces. Rainbow and Applejack both ran over to them, concerned.

"Sonic, are you okay? You look terrible." Rainbow said.

"Yeah Knux, you look the same way." AJ chimed in.

"Don't worry, Dashie. It's just a few bruises, is all." Sonic said as he wrapped his arm around her for support.

"Yeah. Same here, AJ." Knuckles said while also wrapping his arm around AJ for support. The two ponies looked at each other, then back to them.

"If you two are so fine then why are you using us a supports?" Rainbow asked. Sonic and Knuckles only grinned sheepishly.

"Well we just wanted to be closer to our beautiful mares." Sonic responded.

"Exactly what I was going to say." Knuckles concurred. The girls rolled their eyes but helped them join the rest of the group.

"Man. I haven't seen Shadow unleash Chaos Rage in a long time." Sonic said, watching the two hedgehogs fight.

"Chaos Rage?" Twilight questioned.

"Yeah. It's like Soler's Chaos Break, he gets a boost in his Chaos Energy. But for him to do it, he needs to have an Emerald with him, unlike Soler, who doesn't need one." Sonic described.

"But why does he need an Emerald?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, I don't know really. He just does. Hmm, I'm going to have to ask him some day." Sonic ceded. They watched as Soler and Shadow fought, a dance of red and blue dashing about the field. Soler and Shadow broke their clash and stared at each other, taking a quick breather.

"Let's finish this." Shadow said as he created two Chaos Spears. Soler chuckled.

"You really think you're gonna beat me with just come Chaos Spears? You're going to have to do better than that." He taunted. Shadow smirked as then he glowed, and all of a sudden, clones were appearing around him. Soler's eyes widened as he created an immense horde of clones of himself, which now encircled him, each bearing two Chaos Spears.

"Picked this trick up from our last fight." Shadow said.

"You said you only vaguely remember that fight."

"That is true, but from what I do remember, I remember seeing multiple copies of you." He said. Before Soler could respond, the horde of Shadows charged. Soler felt overwhelmed as they all charged him at once. He was doing his best to dodge attacks and try to give some back. When one Shadow slashed, Soler would dodge and try to attack, but another one would just keep him from attacking because had to worry about that one. This went on for a while, and the entire time, Soler was slowly losing his pace.

 _I gotta get outta this!_ He thought. Then, he jumped off the head of one and dashed off the heads of the others to get into an opening. He landed and and looked at the huge pack of Shadows,

 _Welp, looks like I'll have to try out this move._ He thought as he closed his eyes and focused Chaos Energy into his palms. The Energy took the form of a sphere, creating one in each hand. He smashed the two spheres together to form one large sphere and held it in place. He let the sphere go, and it slowly floated into the air.

"You know, Shadow. You weren't the only one to be inspired." He asserted, everybody, including the clones, watched the sphere slowly rise into the air. "Yep, this was inspired by that Spear Shower you did. And honestly, this is the first time I've ever attempted this." The sphere started to glow and Soler raised his hands.

"Here's my CHAOS SWARM!" He declared when the sphere burst open and a colossal Swarm of small projectiles left the sphere. Soler motioned his hands at the group of Shadows and the Swarm responded, sweeping through the group, taking out as many as they could. The Shadows were helpless, unable to do anything to stop the attack. The Swarm moved as a single unit as they easily wrecked through the Shadows. Soler was concentrating on taking out all of the Shadows. Once he had destroyed the last one, he motioned his hands again and the Swarm moved back towards him and circled him.

He scanned the area in search of the real Shadow. He then noticed that there was a massive surge of energy coming from above him. He looked up to see Shadow with a massive Chaos Spear charged and primed to attack. Shadow threw down his hand and the Spear charged towards Soler. Soler didn't panic, instead motioning his Swarm towards the Spear in the sky. The two attacks clashed in a spectacular display of light. Soler and Shadow were both focusing all they had into pushing the attack back at each other, a true deadlock. Soler then smirked.

"You know Shadow, there's a difference between our attacks." He said, causing a curious Shadow to look at him.

"You see, my attack can split apart!" He announced as he made a splitting motion with his hands and the Swarm split in two. Shadow's eyes widened as he tried to defend from the oncoming attack, even as he focused all of his energy into the Spear. The Swarm hit Shadow from two sides as they collided, continuously attacking him. Shadow's Spear vanished once the attack hit, and Soler took this chance and split the Swarm more into an omnidirectional attack, barraging Shadow from all sides at once.

Shadow was helpless midair, getting hit with a barrage of projectiles from all sides. Soler then raised his hands up, and the Swarm came back together as one mass again. Soler then motioned his hands down and the Swarm crushed Shadow again as it slammed him to the ground. They crashed to the ground, and the Swarm scattered as it hit the ground. Soler then closed his hands and the whole Swarm dissipated. The field was quiet, the fighting over. Only Soler was standing in his usual form, though breathing hard. Shadow laid on the ground in the spot where the attack left him, pained and exhausted as he gazed at the sky.

 _He's gotten better._ Shadow reflected. Soler looked around to see that he was the last one standing, a smile growing on his face, and jumped up and down in the air with glee.

"Yes! Yes! I won! I won! Take that! Soler, 1, You guys, 0!" He celebrated as the others looked at him, dumbfounded by what they just saw. Soler stopped, walked over to Shadow, and sat down next to him.

"So, still think I've been slacking off?" He asked. Shadow simply chuckled.

"It appears that you haven't. Good fight."

"Good fight." Soler replied as they both looked up into a sky so blue.

 _Yep yep, and that was Chapter 24! Yes, ik these break chapters haven't been very actionpacked, so I wanted to do this because the next chapter starts the end of the first arc! It's been a long road, guys, and we're almost to the climax. So glad you guys have been with me for so long, and hope you stay with me till the end of the story. Well, this has been Solerwolf… OUT!_


	25. Chapter 25

_Remember, the bigger the light that's cast… The greater the shadow will be…_

 _ **Chapter 25: Darkness Rises**_

 **(P.O.V. none, Ponyville)**

A few days had past since the fight had happened, and everyone was living comfortably. The Mobians had helped the ponies repair the battle damage from the fight, and with help from some magic, new plants had started to grow sooner than later. Soler and Sonic were returning from a run and had decided to walk to the castle through Ponyville.

"Man, everything has been so peaceful. It's great!" Sonic said, stretching.

"Yeah. It's been great, but I feel like something is going to happen." Soler replied, almost sounding like he was talking to himself.

"Yeah, yeah, you're worrying over nothing. So anyways, I've been meaning to ask you, how was it that you were able to do that Chaos Swarm attack?" Sonic asked.

"Oh. Well, to start, like I said during the fight, I thought of the attack when I fought Shadow and he did a sort of Spear Shower attack that wrecked me. But when I remembered the attack, it could only go in one direction and spread out over an area, so I went ahead and made an attack that can be controlled and moved around the battle. So I thought of Chaos Swarm, which is basically like my Hailstorm attack, but the projectiles are multiplied to an extreme level and can be manipulated." He explained. Sonic nodded with some understanding of the attack,

"Well anyway, I can't wait to see you use that attack in some real combat." Sonic replied excitedly. Soler laughed nervously.

"Well ya see, I won't be able to do that attack for a long time." Soler said, causing Sonic to look at him in confusion,

"Why?"

"Well for starters, I can only do the attack while I'm in my Chaos Break Mode, since it requires so much Chaos Energy to do. Second, the attack requires a lot of concentration to control, which took all my effort and concentration to pull off when I first did it. Now when I'm in Break Mode, I do get a mass boost in Chaos Energy, so that's not too much of a problem. But to do it, I need to charge that Energy, and I probably won't have that much time to charge it in battle, so it will leave me very vulnerable. Another problem is the concentration part. I need full concentration to keep it together, so a stressful situation will be my downfall with that attack. And even in my Break Form, it takes up way too much Chaos Energy, so I could only do the attack in a dire situation." He told the blue hedgehog.

Sonic did no more than glare at the white hedgehog, who smiled at him anxiously. Sonic sighed and let it go as the two continued their walk to the castle. It was starting to get dark as the sun started setting, and the moon began rising. Soler saw the rising moon with dread in his heart.

 _Why is it that I feel like something horrible is going to happen?_ He worried.

 **(?)**

 _*A few days earlier*_

 _Systems running at max capacity._ The Computer said, _The three Emeralds have kept systems running 300% more efficiently._ A cold laugh followed.

"Excellent. With three Emeralds, I can now do more than I've ever been able to do." Came a voice. The being watched the pitiful beings of this world from a distance. He watched as his longtime adversary was being brought into the hospital, along with the black one. All their little friends trailed behind them. "Hmm, it seems that Shadow wasn't able to finish off Soler. I expected this, but at least now I know I can even turn those Mobians against each other." Through the windows, he could see nurses rushing desperately to stabilize the two hedgehogs.

"Computer, how is the duplication software coming along?" The voice asked.

 _With the three Emeralds powering your systems, the nanites are able to work more efficiently than before. But to be able to replicate, they need a basis to start from._ The computer replied.

"Hmm, so I need to get the data of something that has the ability to replicate to give my nanites the data needed to start from." He thought aloud. He focused on the hospital windows once again, and noticed that those nurses were able to stabilize the two hedgehogs. He looked down to the entrance and saw their friends all piling out of the hospital, their spirits obviously down from seeing their fallen friends.

"It would be easy to crush them all right here and now." The being said, "But that would be too easy. I want them to suffer before I dispose of them. Computer, scan to see if there are any beings in this world that can replicate to gain the data." The computer took a few seconds to scan the area, widening its search radius with each sweep.

 _I've found a being with the given criterion. It's located 900 miles Southwest from your current location._ It told him. The being stood from his perch and stepped into the moonlight, revealing himself to be Neo. He took one last look into the hospital and watched Soler struggle to breathe.

"I'll give you this time to heal. But know that your time is coming closer to an end. Computer, set my tracker for the location."

 _Location acquired. Tracking enabled_ , the Computer said. Neo then levitated into the air and flew off, towards the direction of the being.

 **(P.O.V. Neo)**

Neo traveled through the air at breakneck speed. With three Emeralds powering him, he'd been running beyond his normal parameters and loved the power. He looked at his tracker, which read that he was only a few miles away from his target. The locale around him conveyed a darkness, along with a massive set of spire towers he was approaching. He landed in front of the towers and examined them, taking note of the holes of various shapes and sizes scattered all over them. There was only one main way in and out of them.

"Computer, is this where the the being is located?"

 _Yes. It appears to be deep inside the structure. I advise doing a scan of the area before entering._ It finished as Neo turned on its heartbeat scanners, picking up nothing. Puzzled, Neo switched to a heat scanner, and failed to pick up any heat signatures. He decided to simply switch to a more general scanner, to try picking up on any signs of breathing life. This time, he had several hundreds of pings all throughout the structure. He was interested in seeing exactly was inside, but knew his ultimate goal was deep inside. Anything else that got in his way would be crushed. He started to make his way through the mass opening in the front, following his tracker.

"Computer, do a mass area scan of the structure."

 _Scanning…_ The computer said while Neo continued going through the place, entering the ever-deepening underground. He could definitely feel the presence of other beings around him, though the only scanner that could pick up anything was the one used to track breathing. He could also feel hundreds of thousands of eyes watching his he went down deeper. If it wasn't for his tracker, Neo would've been lost in the maze of the place, what with the many pathways.

The eerie feeling about the area intensified the deeper he went down. Neo didn't care what the place felt like, since he wasn't afraid of anything, or even knew what it felt like. Since he wasn't a normal bot, he could understand emotions, and had only his free will and thoughts. He got out of Eggman's control so long ago, he'd forgotten what it felt like to not have his own thoughts and free will.

 _Scan complete._

"Well?" He responded.

 _I have found that the structure seems to have many different exits, but only from the inside. This area was built by many hands, and is well over hundreds of years old. It also has a very complex series of connecting tunnels and passageways that run deep underground._ His Computer reported. After listening to the report, a few thoughts ran through his head. Between the many signals of life, and the report of how deep and complex this place is, it was becoming clear that this place might be like some sort of hive.

"Computer, where is the signal's location?" He demanded. The computer took a moment to search for the target again.

 _It is a few more feet down, in a central chamber. It seems to be that the tunnels all connect to that chamber in some way._ It answered. Neo nodded and pushed forward.

Neo looked at his tracker, detecting the target in the chamber ahead of him. It also read that he was now a few hundred feet underground. Before entering the room. he performed another scan of the area ahead of him. He still didn't pick up any heat signatures or heart beats, but there seemed to be a large amount of breathing around him.

Neo walked into the chamber, a massive setting that looked like it was dug out, just to be so big. Green sacks dotted the walls and ceilings, illuminating the room enough to see. He walked deeper in and could feel hundreds of eyes burrowing into him. The tracker said that the target was in this room, but since he was so deep underground, he couldn't get an exact location for it.

 _Where are you?_ He thought, when a voice, almost on cue, spoke from the room's darkness.

"Well it seems that our intruder has arrived." The voice said, sounding distorted. It echoed as if two voices were talking, one right after the other. Neo searched for the source with his eyes, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

"Show yourself so I can get this over with." He ordered. The voice laughed, coming from everywhere in the chamber.

"Why, it isn't often that someone, or something, just strolls straight into my nest and down into my chamber. So let me ask who, or what, are you?" The voice replied.

"Telling you my name is irrelevant. It won't change why I'm here. Now, show yourself and make it easier for me, and less painful for you." Neo retorted. The voice laughed once again.

"Well I guess there is no reason to hide." The voice responded. Then, torches blazed a green fire as they started igniting throughout the room. Neo looked around, and could now see that there were little black pony creatures all over the room. Their glossy eyes were blue, and their wings like those of insects. The fanged creatures' hooves had holes in them as well. The worst part wasn't their appearance, but rather the sheer number of them all over the room, trapping Neo.

"Well, you see that now, since you've come this far, I can't let you leave." He heard as he looked towards the center of the room, where there was another pony, about the same size as Celestia. She had the same blue eyes as the others, but hers were extremely cat-like. A green band went around her insect-winged, black-coated body. Her position of power was marked by a long and holed horn borne alongside a crown laid out her long azure mane.

"Even though you don't appear to be flesh and blood, my children will still tear you apart." She said.

"Your children?"

"Yes. These are all my children. They all come from me." She proclaimed, "Now then, since we're done talking, children, show him the power of the Changelings. Destroy him." The Changelings charged at Neo. Neo didn't move, allowing them to near him. Once the first one was within reach, he grabbed it by the throat. A squeal escaped the Changeling, as Neo tightened his grip and snapped its neck. He then threw the dead body at the next one that came close, taking it off guard as he charged right behind it, slamming its head into the ground with a large cracking sound. The body went limp, and the other Changelings momentarily ceased their advance, fear slowly creeping into their minds. Neo stood back up and turned to look at the rest, his cold red eyes sent a chill down all their spines, even Chrysalis, the apparent leaded, felt it.

"Now, you'll all meet the same fate as these two." He said coldly, charging at the group. Chrysalis watched as he took down her Changelings with ease, their cries ringing out.

 _What is this thing?_ She wondered fearfully. Neo was making short work of them, killing some, and wounding others. He didn't care much for if whether they all lived or died, he only came for the Queen. Another charged from behind him, but stopped when his Chaos Spear went through its stomach, snatching away its life. The last Changelings fell in the fighting over the following few minutes. Neo stood, unscathed, in the middle of hundreds of Changelings, some savagely executed, others severely injured. Neo looked at his work, unimpressed, then up to Chrysalis, her fear visible. He started to walk over the bodies of the Changelings towards their Queen. One of the Changelings struggled to take a stand, and Neo simply stepped on it's neck. He closed in on Chrysalis, too shaken to flee.

"W-What do you want?" She asked her, voice shaking in terror. Neo's eyes bore right into her, the Queen who couldn't look, much less run, away.

"Power…" He answered calmly as he stuck his fingers into her stomach, ignoring her wails of agony.

"Computer."

 _DNA scan complete. DNA replication complete. Nanite replication program complete. Body replication is now accessible._ It reported. Neo removed his hand and let Chrysalis drop to ground, pained, but alive. Her green blood trickled down her fur.

"Data acquired." He said as he turned to leave.

"Why… Why not just kill me?" She asked him. He stopped, but didn't look back at her.

"There is no point in ending your life now, since you pose no threat. But when I conquer this world, you might be of service, so you'll stay alive. For now," He replied, before he teleported out of the chamber.

 **(P.O.V. Neo)**

Neo watched Soler as he left Twilight's castle in a hurry, appearing excited. A few days had passed since Neo went to the changelings, and he was getting used to his new ability. Soon after Soler left, Shadow and the small dragon exited the castle, following the white hedgehog. Neo kept himself hidden as he followed them to the station. He watched as Shadow skated off towards what looked like a city in the distance. He cloaked himself and followed Shadow. Shadow unknowingly led him to a mountainside city. Neo remained cloaked, but maintained a distance above the city to see where Shadow was heading, the castle.

Neo found a spot on the mountain from which he could watch the castle. Unable to see all the way inside, the robotic hedgehog turned on his heat tracker and discerned the bodies of two hedgehogs and two ponies. One pony was smaller than the other, and stood next to one of the hedgehogs.

"Computer, see if you can pick up the audio inside." Neo said. As the computer started working, Neo picked up voices, one of them being Soler's.

"Awe, man. You looked so peeved, it's priceless!" He heard Soler say. They didn't talk about anything of use, but Neo watched their heat signatures. Shadow's heat signature seemed to just disappear, meaning that the black hedgehog had probably teleported away. The only signatures left were Soler's and, probably, the two Princesses.

The sun began setting as Neo observed them. Soler and one Princess left the room, teleporting to the top of one of the spires. After moving to a different spot, Neo was able to see into the room on the spire. He watched as Soler walked out onto the balcony with the Princess in tow. The Princess' fur was a dark blue, and her mane and tail seem to flow continuously, a night sky in their own right. He watched as her horn lit up, and the moon rose into the sky. Then, the stars followed suit. The two watched the sky for a few moments, before her horn lit up again, and the two teleported away.

Neo stayed in that spot as the night went on, and the two returned. They lied down in her bed and went to sleep. As morning came and it became midday, Soler rose and teleported away.

"So this is who Soler has been seeing." He said, "Why won't that hedgehog learn? Computer, scan that pony. I need data on her." A faint laugh escaped him.

 _Processing… Information found._

 _Subject: Luna_

 _Occupation: Co-ruler of Equestria, Princess of the Night_

 _Family: Sister of Princess Celestia_

 _Brief History: Luna was sent to the moon by her sister for many years. She was recently brought back by Princess Twilight and her friends. She has been co-ruling Equestria ever since._

Neo digested the information as he watched Luna sleep.

"Computer, why was she sent to the moon?"

 _She was sent to the moon because she turned into a being called Nightmare Moon in an attempt to take over Equestria. She would've succeeded if Celestia hadn't used the Elements of Harmony to stop her._

Neo pondered this new information, and a plan formulating in his mind. He chuckled.

"This will be useful." He said as he continued watching her. Neo observed her over the next few days, learning her patterns, and when she'd be alone. One night, right after she had risen the moon, he decided it was time to execute his plan. He uncloaked himself and made his way to her room.

 **(P.O.V. Luna, Canterlot)**

Luna had just risen the moon for another night, and was heading over to her stand to write a letter.

"I wonder what I should write to Soler tonight?" She thought aloud, "I have not talked to him in a while, so I wonder what he's been up to. And maybe when we can spend more time together." She blushed a little with the thought of spending time with him again in her mind. Luna had to admit that she has been thinking about the hedgehog a lot lately. She always loved his company, and she loved the way he always brightened up her day whenever he was around. She loved the how he always made her feel warm inside when he was around,

 _Am I in love with him?_ She ruminated.

"Well, aren't you looking lovely tonight?" She heard a familiar voice say. She turned to see the hedgehog in question standing on the balcony.

"S-Soler? I wasn't expecting to see you tonight," she stammered as a blush came across her face. He smirked as he approached her.

"What? You aren't happy to see me? I'm hurt, Luna." He joked. She shook her head and smiled at him.

"No, that's not what I meant. Just, it's a surprise seeing you. Not that it isn't pleasant to see you." She responded, "Why are you here?" Soler smirked, standing right in front of her.

"Well I just wanted to check up on my beautiful mare." He answered as he stroked her cheek, "Is there something wrong with that?" Her heart fluttered at his touch, now that she was blushing madly.

"Well Soler, I've never seen you act so direct before. It's…" She stopped as she started to remember, he's never acted this direct with her. When he wrapped his around her the first time she entered his dream, he freaked out when he found out it was really her.

 _Why is he so forward with me now? Plus, since when has he started calling me his beautiful mare? Something's wrong._ She took a step back away from him, his smile now fading.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Well nothing. It's just, you've never been this direct with me before, and it's taken me by surprise." She told him, her blush and shyness gone. Soler took back up his smirk as he approached her again.

"Well, I was too afraid to express my feelings, but now that's changed. All I want is to be with you, to stay with you Luna… Forever." He exclaimed. Luna was slightly taken aback, but then jumped away from him, her horn glowing.

"Who are you!" She demanded. Soler's smirk turned into a frown, then he started to cackle maniacally.

"Well, it seems I wasn't convincing enough, was I, Luna? Well of course, it is hard to imitate such an annoying rodent." He said with a changing voice. Then his eyes morphed from their inspiring emerald to a cold red. "Well at least I was able to get this close, huh?" His voice had gone completely mechanical. Then, the white of his quills became blue, and his muzzle went from peach to silver. Luna watched in horror as his whole body morphed from flesh to metal as he approached her. Once his transformation was complete, he looked like a metal version of Sonic, with a few differences.

"Well it won't matter anyways. You have something I want, and I'll soon have it." Neo said in a detached tone.

"Not likely." She announced, preparing to attack. But then her eyes, widened in shock, unable to move, at all.

"What's going on? Why can't I-" Her knees went weak and wobbly, causing the Princess of the Night to collapse, looking towards the balcony.

"Seems like the injected neurotoxin has finally taken effect." Neo noted. Fear began to manifest in Luna as all she could do was listen to his metallic footsteps grow closer and closer to her. They stopped, and she felt as his cold hands grab her by the throat, lifting her up to eye level. She started into his red eyes, no sign of remorse or mercy in them, worsening her dread.

"Soler will come for me, and you will be sorry." She declared, despite her trembling. Neo only laughed at the remark.

"I'm planning on it. Now, let's get out of here so we can find a nice and quiet place. We wouldn't want to wake up anybody with your screams now, would we?" He retorted. A tear streaked out her widened eyes and down her face. She looked at the moon, screaming one word before they teleported away…

"SOLER!"

 **(P.O.V. Soler, Ponyville)**

Soler stared at the moon, concern overwhelming his heart.

"Come on, man. You're probably just overthinking things. Let's head back already, I mean, it's already nighttime." Sonic said to him. Soler shook himself, and then nodded as the two hedgehogs started walking back to the castle.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm probably just-" He stopped when his ear twitched. He stopped in his tracks and looked around nervously, on edge. Even Sonic stopped, tinged with anxiety by how Soler was acting.

"Soler, is everything-" Soler put up his hand in order to silence Sonic. He listened carefully, trying to pinpoint a sound. At first, all he heard was the nature around them. But then, he heard the sound, loud and clear…

"SOLER!" Luna screamed. His eyes widened and he looked around, unsure of where it came from.

"Luna! Luna, where are you?" He shouted to the air. Sonic watched him do this, not knowing who he was talking to.

"Soler, what are you talking about? Luna's at the castle."

"No, something's wrong. Something isn't right. She's-"

"SOLER!" He heard her scream again. He looked around, tens. He turned towards Sonic, ready to run off.

"Soler, wait. Don't just-" But it was too late. With a boom, Soler dashed off into the night. Sonic stood hesitant of what to do. He snapped out of it and turned on his communicator.

"Tails! Tails, respond! We got a problem, Tails! Tails!" He shouted as he ran off to get the others.

 _And this, is the beginning of the end. Thanks, you guys, for sticking around, just look at how far we've come. We're in the last stretch of the first arc, guys! It kinda doesn't feel real, but it's happening, and it's all thanks to you guys for sticking around and enjoying the story. Welp, strap in and get ready, it's going to be a ride. This is Solerwolf… OUT!_


	26. Chapter 26

_Ya know, we all have demons… Some of us are just better at hiding'em…_

 _ **Chapter 26- Soler vs. The Night**_

 **(P.O.V. Soler)**

A white streak dashed across the night-covered land, desperately seeking his unknown destination. Soler looked around as he dashed across the land, searching for Luna. Far from Ponyville, the hedgehog saw nothing familiar, but he had to find Luna. She was in trouble.

 _Where are you, Luna? Please, I just need to find you, Luna._ He worried as flashes of his past haunted him, especially seeing Neo standing over his Luna, ending her tortured screams. He shook the thought out of his head in an attempt to focus,

 _No. No repeats. Not this time._ He thought as he picked up his pace. Not knowing where he was going in his mad dash, Soler entered a massive forest with trees that seemed to touch the heavens. He stopped a distance into the forest, catching his breath, the sounds of the night's liveliness around him. He could hear the typical echoes of the night's creatures chattering about, doing what they do best.

He walked through the forest, something telling him he needed to be here, that it was important that he came here. Then all at once, the forest grew deathly silent. He stopped, completely caught off guard. He looked around the forest while the moon casted its light through gaps in the trees, Soler's heartbeat impossibly loud in the quiet. Before he could do anything, an ear-shattering scream broke the silence, coming from everywhere at once. The scream caused Soler to jump fearfully, and when he heard it again, it sounded familiar, this time more focused. His eyes widened in realization,

"Luna!" He shouted, and dashed off towards the scream.

 **(P.O.V. none, Forest)**

Luna screamed in pain as Neo jabbed his claws into her stomach. He used Negative Chaos Energy in his plan, but the Princess of the Night was more resilient than he had thought.

"You're stronger than I anticipated, Princess." He told Luna to her pained face, her eyes reflecting hatred for the robot hedgehog.

"I'll never surrender to you!" Neo chuckled at her declaration.

"Well, I do admire that spirit of yours, Luna. I can't wait to break it for you." Neo remarked darkly as he intensified the Energy, causing her to wail once. He continued anyways.

"NEO!" He heard a familiar voice yell. He looked over and saw an angry Soler standing there, glaring at him. Luna smiled through the pain, her hero finally present.

"Well it seems you've come to the party." Neo said with a chuckle. Soler's stare held a hatred much stronger than Luna's face for Neo hatred.

"Let her go, Neo!" He shouted with swelling anger.

"Sorry, but I'm not done with her yet. She's tougher than she seems." He replied all-too-casually.

"Soler, don't worry about me. Just stop-" Neo cut off the midnight-colored alicorn with another surge of Energy.

"Quiet, the adults are talking." Neo ordered as Luna writhed in agony. Seeing this, Soler charged at Neo, who floated into the air with Luna. Soler missed them and watched as they floated up and out of his reach.

"Sorry, still not done with her yet. Can't have you interfering." Neo remarked once more.

"Tough luck with that. I'm going to get Luna out of here, then I'm going to destroy you!" Soler retorted as he created two Spears.

"I wouldn't throw those Spears if I were you. Wouldn't want to hit a certain Princess." Neo said.

"Oh don't worry. I won't need to throw them to get you." Soler said. He then jumped up to Neo, Spears ready. Before he could attack, Neo's hand stopped him. Soler was shocked by how his hand came out of the side of his body. Soler landed back on the ground, highly confused.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I gained a new ability in our time of absence." Neo said. The arm sticking out of his side pushed itself out of his body and hit the ground. The limb soon began to stir, the rest of its body forming from the arm. Soler gaped at the clone of Neo standing in front of him. While not perfect, the semblance was clear enough.

 _He can clone himself now? I though his nanites weren't advanced enough for that._ Soler thought. The clone stood there, looking at Soler with the Neo's same red eyes.

"Neat trick, Neo." Soler said, prompting suppressed laughter from the robotic hedgehog.

"It's more than a trick, hedgehog. Why don't you see for yourself?" He responded. And before the white hedgehog could respond, the clone charged at him. Soler dodged the clone and slashed it in half with the Spears. The two halves laid behind him on the ground.

"Pathetic." Soler said, "Neo. Last chance, let her go!" With one of Soler's Chaos Spears pointed at him, Neo laughed, much to the former's chagrin.

"Oh Soler, I wouldn't underestimate my clones so soon." Neo answered. Soler turned around, and to his dismay, the two parts of the clone bot started to repair itself, reforming in a matter of seconds. It stood back up with its eyes glowing red, splitting itself apart. Soler gritted his teeth at the sight of two clones, standing next to each other.

 _Dammit! I need to get Luna back, but these clones aren't going to make it easy. How do I make'em stay down?_ He thought as the two clones charged him. This time, Soler blocked and maneuvered around their attacks, afraid to destroy them, else he risk spawning more clones.

Neo looked back to the Princess, feeling his plan coming close to completion. The torment Luna suffered added up the longer he pumped her with Negative Chaos Energy.

"Computer, how much longer?" He asked. The Computer analyzed everything for a bit.

 _Process completion in 20 seconds_ , It said. Neo could see the life draining from the Princess' face.

"Computer, what's the probability of the Princess surviving this process?"

 _Probability of survival… 30%_ , It answered. Then, Neo felt a tug coming from the Princess as well as a strange energy. He suppressed his laughter, having finally gotten what he was waiting for. He took hold of the energy coming from her, and started pulling it out of her. Her eyes grew wide, unable to so much as scream despite being wanting to howl it all away.

His fingers slowly came out of her stomach, and within his grasp was a dark substance that resembled a very dark night sky. He continued to pull it out of her, and once he had it in his hand, Luna went limp in his grasp. Soler shook off the clones and looked up in horror at her lifeless body.

"No… No… No!" He bellowed. Neo turned his gaze upon the hedgehog once more. He was holding Luna by her neck in one hand, and a weird, dark substance in the other.

"Hmph, you can have her now, since she's of no use to me." Neo said, tossing Luna. Soler dropped his Spears and ran to catch her. He caught her before she hit the ground, and gently laid her body on the ground, still motionless. He mentally panicked, on the verge of tears, until he pressed his ear to her chest. The despairing silence was gently soothed with a quiet heartbeat. He waited a moment to make sure, delighted by the sound of her soft heartbeat. He sighed in relief, glad that she was alive. He carefully picked her lifted her and placed her away from Neo.

"Don't worry, Luna. I'll get you help real soon, just hold out a little longer for me." He whispered to her with a brush of her cheek. She weakly opened her eyes and peered at Soler.

"Sol… Soler…" She struggled. He hushed her as he continued stroking her cheek.

"Don't worry, I'll handle him. Just rest, please." He pleaded. She took one last look at him before closing her eyes to rest. Soler's heart broke at the sight of Luna's suffering form. He steeled himself as he stood and faced Neo, who was still floating in the sky. The death glare that he gave Neo was returned with a blank look.

"Are you mad, hedgehog? How's Luna doing?" Neo taunted. Soler's scowl only deepened.

"You're going, Neo! For good this time!" He proclaimed. Neo simply chuckled at him, holding the strange energy mass in his claws.

"Well that will have to wait, hedgehog. The show is just about to begin." He said before releasing the energy into the air. Soler watched as the energy floated in front of the moon, then started growing, as if it drew energy from the moonlight. Soler gazed as the blob of mass began taking shape. It formed a pony-like torso, followed by four hooves, two wings, and then its neck and head. Its head having formed, a horn also came to be. Soler watched in shock as it opened its mouth, showing sharp, white fang-like teeth. Its mane flowed like the night sky, eerily like Luna's. Armor covered the creature's pitch black fur.

It opened it eyes.

"No. It can't be!" Soler uttered. The alicorn looked around her environment, and then her body. She let out a maniacal laugh that could send chills down anyone's spine, and send fear into their hearts.

"Yes! Finally, the return of Nightmare Moon has come!" She said with joy. She then noticed the white hedgehog staring up at her. "And it seems I have rodents in my soon-to-be kingdom." Soler stared at Nightmare Moon, disbelieving her existence.

"Who are you, rodent?" She demanded.

"That is Soler the Hedgehog, a nuisance to say the least." Neo chimed in, gaining her attention. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"It seems I have two rodents to exterminate." She said with a glowing horn. Neo raised his hands in surrender.

"Oh please, Ruler of the Night. I am not your enemy." He said as he bowed down to her, "You see, your majesty, I brought you back to this world, freed from Princess Luna." He pointed to the downed Princess. Nightmare looked over to see Luna barely holding onto her life.

"Hmm, I see. So why is it that you have brought me back?" She asked. Neo raised his head.

"I only wish to see you rule this land, and bring that Celestia to her knees with your might." He replied. Nightmare knew that he wanted more, but played along anyway.

"I see. Yes, that horrid Celestia must fall, and her little student as well." Nightmare said.

"You might like to know that her student is now an alicorn Princess." Neo said.

"Well then, a lot has happened in my absence." She replied.

"Yes indeed, but if I may make one request of you, your majesty." Neo said with another bow of his head. Nightmare raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is it?"

"I only ask that you get rid of that rodent down there, and the Princess." He asked. Nightmare looked back down at the hedgehog, who looked at them, evidently puzzled.

"So this was your true reason for bringing me here, just to get rid of your problem." She remarked with annoyance.

"Oh no, I promise that I brought you back so you can rule this land. But getting rid of this hedgehog is only an added bonus." Neo explained. She looked from Neo down to Soler, glaring.

Soler tried not to panic, though the situation did not show signs of improving.

 _Okay. Stay calm, hedgehog, and assess the situation. I have a downed Luna, a Neo with three Emeralds, a newly brought back Nightmare Moon, and no backup._ He regretted thinking that, since it only made him want to panic more. He knew he couldn't let them get to Luna, but now he also knew that if Nightmare Moon wasn't stopped here, she would be an even bigger problem than Neo. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face strove to think of something that could help.

Nightmare's growing smirk turned into a laugh.

"Well then, I could use a little warm-up before I take down Celestia. And this hedgehog should be good target practice." She said confidently.

"I wouldn't underestimate-"

"Silence! I can tell of his strength, but even with what he has, he is still no match for me." She said, silencing the robotic hedgehog. He only bowed and backed away, waiting to watch the show. Nightmare landed away from Soler and gave him a confident smirk as she glared at him. The white hedgehog responded by getting into a battle stance, ready for anything.

"Before I erase you from this world, what is your name?" She asked.

"My name is Soler… Soler the Hedgehog. And don't think that you're going to be winning this fight. I'm going to stop you both here!" Soler responded, a little newfound confidence in his voice. Nightmare only laughed at his attempt to psyche himself up.

"Well then, Soler the Hedgehog. I'll show you just how out matched you are." She said, and with the glow of her horn, a blast of energy shot straight towards the fallen Luna. Soler moved quick enough to get in front of her to block the attack by piercing it with two Chaos Spears. He did his best to keep his footing as the attack pushed at him. He couldn't lie, it scared him. With some effort, he split apart, and redirected the attack to his sides with his Spears, deflecting the attack. Nightmare seemed almost impressed that he was able to block her attack.

"Impressive. You might be more entertaining than I thought." She boasted as Soler steadied his breath.

"Yeah. And you're stronger than I thought." He countered. He dashed at her, and tried to get in a homing attack on her, but she put up a shield right before he could strike, causing him to bounce off. Soler sped off before Nightmare's second blast could hit him. He ran around her as she fired wildly, attempting to hit him. He threw some Spears at her while running, with most of them making contact. Nightmare grew frustrated and performed a blast that pushed the white hedgehog away _(Think of it as the magical counterpart of the Chaos Blast.)_

Soler got thrown off quite a bit, and hit the ground hard. He got up, planning to attack, but was quickly forced to dodge another blast coming from her. Frustrated by his quick reflexes, Nightmare Moon decided to change her attack strategy. She ceased fire on Soler and closed her eyes, focusing. Soler, refusing to pass up this chance, charged right at her with a Chaos Spear. Right when he had closed the gap, rearing back a strike, he felt that something was wrong. Before he could react, he narrowly avoided a black tendril that swept up, slashing at him. He landed and saw that there were now a number of black tendrils stemming from the ground around Nightmare. He ducked as another tendril swiped at his head, then evaded yet another tendril that came at him.

Nightmare opened her eyes as she proceeded to walk towards him, allowing the tendrils to attack him. A defensive Soler remained uncertain of where the tendrils' random attacks came from. She was gradually backing him up, gaining more ground on him as he slowly lost pace. He happened to trip, leaving him wide open. She smiled as one of the tendrils stabbed Soler, his eyes growing wide as the pain itself grew.

Luna, who was sluggishly awakening, opened her eyes at the moment of the stab. It looked fatal from her position.

"Soler… No." She whispered as a tear rolled down her face. Soler, on the other hand, managed to move just enough to the left that the attack missed his vitals. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the tendril, his blood was almost oozing from the attack. His apparent durability surprised Nightmare, being that most wouldn't even be alive. Soler smirked, looking her right into her eyes. His smirk was strong and confident one, despite the glaring pain his face showed.

"Sorry, but I'm going down that easy." He said, quickly charging a bit of energy. "Chaos Blast!" Nightmare was surprised when he unleashed his attack, and received the full blunt of the attack. She was blasted away a few yards and laid on the ground, smoldering as steam trailed off her body. Soler smirked at his work and winced in pain, falling to one knee as he held his wound. The tendril might've not hit anywhere vital, but the attack still did considerable damage.

"Man. I can't let something like this happen again. Too risky." He told himself.

"Yes, I agree." Soler's eyes grew wide, and his head shot up to see Nightmare standing once more, without any bodily injuries.

"But… But how? You shouldn't be standing, or you should at least have taken some damage." He stuttered.

"You still haven't realized the gravity of your situation, have you?" She asked with a chuckle. He then looked closely at her, and watched as one of her wounds healed itself in a matter of seconds.

 _How is she-_ He ended his train of thought, then looked up to the bright moon overhead.

And that's when it hit him.

"The moon… No, the night in general. You're drawing all your power and energy from it." He realized. She only responded with a laugh, Soler's confidence now fading away.

 _It's not like I'm even facing her anymore, but like I'm facing the night itself. How am I going to survive this?_ He wondered in disbelief. Nightmare grinned wickedly at his expression.

"Well I suppose I should just finish you now, rodent." She commented, charging up her horn for an attack. Soler snapped out of his shock and prepared for the attack. Nightmare blasted the attack at him, full force. The moment before the blast struck, it curved.

Soler's eyes widened as the attack headed once more towards the downed Luna, who had sat herself up and watched with wide eyes as the attack grew close. She tried to cast a spell, but found herself still too weak to do so. She closed her eyes and waited for the attack to hit, but instead felt someone hug her. She opened her eyes and discovered that Soler had wrapped his arms around her, holding her. She then looked down his back and saw that he had taken the entirety of the attack. He coughed up some blood, but shakily rose to look Luna in the eye. Her eyes became watery as he looked at her.

"Soler-" She sniffed. He stopped her by wiping a tear out of her eye.

"Hey… Don't… Cry" He started, before hacking up more blood. "You know I hate to see… You… Cry…" The white hedgehog collapsed next to her. Tears ran as she cried over his body.

"Soler! I'm so, so sorry. Please, just stay with me. Please." She begged. Soler laid motionless as she cried. Nightmare smiled wickedly at the site.

"Poor, poor Luna. The first time you've fallen for a guy, and he slowly dies at your hooves. Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon enough." She stated, levitating the weakened Luna over to her in order to finish her. Luna tried to struggle, but couldn't. She looked Nightmare into her eyes, unafraid.

"I'll always admire that about you, Luna. Never showing your foes any sign of weakness, right up till the end. Even though you were just crying your eyes out." She mocked. Luna didn't say anything, continuing to stare unnervingly. Nightmare cackled as she formed a Spear, poised to kill.

As Soler steadily lost consciousness, he watched the sight, powerless.

 _ **She's going to die. My power is needed.**_

 _No, I can still do something. I don't need you._

 _ **I wasn't offering my power, I'm telling you.**_

 _No, don't…_ Soler lost consciousness. Right before Nightmare could strike, both alicorns heard a laugh. They turned to see Soler standing up, his back towards them. Luna was gladdened when she saw him standing back up, while Nightmare was totally puzzled, since that last shot should have kept him down. He was examining his body in a weird fashion.

" **Well it's been awhile since I've been back in control."** Soler said. He then noticed that his quills weren't black, though the dark aura about him caused his quills to become black in brief moments. " **Hmph, seems he still has a little control. Whatever, I'll be quick either way."** He turned and stared at Nightmare, eye-to-eye. Nightmare raised an eyebrow to the hedgehog's sudden change of character.

"Well it seems you're stronger than I thought. Surely that last attack should've kept you down for awhile. No matter, once I'm done with her, you'll be-" A powerful sucker punch to the face interrupted her and sent her flying back a few yards. She let go of Luna and Soler caught her in his arms. Luna was almost relieved to be in his arms, but she could now feel the dark sensation he gave off, and could see the perturbing coldness in his eyes.

"Soler?" She questioned. He looked down to her, and for a brief moment, his eyes looked like they used to, filled with emotion. Sadness.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me this way, Luna. But we've all got our demons." He answered dismally. He closed his eyes, and his face scrunched up something terrible, reopening with their previous upsetting harshness.

" **This'll be over quickly."** He added emotionlessly. He gently put her down and walked towards the fallen Nightmare Moon. She staggered as she rose, the pain clear in her expression.

 _How did he move so fast? He wasn't able to hit me like that before._ She worried as she noticed the hedgehog closing in. She looked into his eyes, detached to appearing almost lifeless. For the first time in her life, she took a step back as an unforeseen bit of fear overtook her.

"You were not this strong before. Who are you? And what's with this dark aura coming off of you?" She demanded. Soler only grinned at her questioning.

" **Hmph, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you'll be gone soon."** He retorted. Her horn lit up for battle.

"I'll show you a true nightmare!" She shouted. He smirked at the remark.

" **Well if you're going to show me a true nightmare, I'll be sure to make you feel utter helplessness before I erase you from this world."** He replied, creating two Chaos Spears. The two fighters stared at each other with blood on their minds, prepared to finish this fight.

 _And that's a wrap for this one. I know, it sucks that it ends on a cliffhanger, but believe me when I say that it'll be worth the wait. Anyway, so I'm going to be starting a new story soon, and yes, it's another crossover of Sonic and MLP, but this time, they'll be humans… Yeah, I know making them humans gets mixed reviews, but I wanted to see how I could write these characters as humans, ya know? So give it read if ya want when I post it. And don't worry, I'm not going to be stopping this story anytime soon, you have my guarantee. Anyway, this is Solerwolf… OUT!_


	27. Chapter 27

_I wonder who's stronger… A fallen god, or a heartbroken demon…?_

 _ **Chapter 27- Soler vs The Night Pt. 2: Wrath of Darkness**_

 _ **(P.O.V. None, Forest)**_

Soler and Nightmare clashed as their power rippled through the forest, cautioning the creatures away. The malice the two entities gave off in their fighting would cripple the most strong-hearted of beings into begging for mercy. Luna watched as the two battled with all their might, trying to outdo each other. She could see Nightmare blasting Soler with powerful magic, and Soler shrugging the hits off as if they were nothing, blasting back with attacks of his own. Their deadly dance lit up the night sky, when Soler dodged another one of Nightmare's blasts and tried to get a slash attack on her. She saw the attack coming and dissipated into smoke before the attack landed, confusing him.

Nightmare manifested behind Soler and blasted him at point blank range, sending him flying to the ground. As he attempted to recover, Nightmare followed up her attack by forcing the dark tendrils to rise once more and ensnare him. Despite his struggling, Soler was helplessly pinned down, a spear of Nightmare's making pointed at his chest. When she released the attack, it charged him at blazing speeds. Soler only noticed it a split second too late, the spear having already gone through his chest. Luna's eyes went wide in shock while a grin grew on Nightmare's face.

"Well, it seems that this is the limit of your power." She remarked confidently.

" **I wouldn't be too sure of that.** " A voice said in response. Shocked, she turned around to see Soler floating behind her. Nightmare became confused, for when she looked back down at the tendrils, and nothing was there.

" **What's wrong, Nightmare? Missing something?** " He joked. The angered Nightmare Moon knocked him away with a pulse-wave. Soler recovered and threw two Spears at her, which she dodged, retaliating with a blast. The attack split and came from multiple directions, striking Soler with the full force of the attack. He was sent back a few feet in the air and recovered quickly enough to then create a Chaos Spear and grip it tightly. Nightmare followed by creating a scythe that seemed to glow with the moon. The two entered a stare-down, anticipating the other's first move. Then, they both charged at each other.

Entering close combat, Nightmare's magic made the scythe swing much faster, keeping Soler on the defensive. He tried to find an opening, but her magic made it evident that he wasn't going to be quick enough to get that chance, now that he was slowly being pushed back. Nightmare smirked, with the knowledge of her growing advantage over Soler in mind, she began to amp up her strikes. His increasing difficulty in blocking the attacks showed that he was losing pace, finally giving Nightmare her major opening. She took that opening with a vengeance as she let loose a series of deep slashes on his body. Blood flew everywhere. Her attack ended cutting down, and Soler's body fell to the ground. She smiled as the fresh blood dripped off the end of the scythe, some trickling across her face.

"Finally, you perish by my scythe." She stated.

" **Guess again.** " She heard the same voice behind her, followed by a Spear through her back before she could react. The shocked Nightmare's scythe shattered as Soler leaned in close from behind her. " **Do you feel fear yet?** " She then turned back into the smoke to get away from him and his whispering. She reformed herself a few feet in front of him and stared Soler down. Nightmare was shocked to see that his body bore no damage whatsoever as he floated before her. Her mind raced with thoughts concerning what to do about him,

 _What is happening? I should've killed him long ago! I swear I can feel it every time I hit him or get an attack on him that it's making contact with his body! And those deathblows should've finished him off! But he won't die!_ She fumed as her anger grew with each moment the hedgehog wasn't dead. He just gazed at her, his eyes still cold and unnerving, and for the first time in her whole existence… Nightmare felt a small shiver down her spine, inducing wide eyes.

 _It's not possible! I don't feel fear, I make others feel fear! Damn this insufferable hedgehog! I'll have his head mounted on the castle walls once I finished him and Celestia!_ She thought.

"I'll have your head, hedgehog! I swear it!" Nightmare shouted at him. Soler continued to give her that same stare and smirked.

" **What's wrong? You sound like you're losing your nerve.** " He chuckled, " **Looks like you're finally starting to feel fear. Now, let me help you feel utter helplessness.** " She gritted her teeth and sent a blast at the hedgehog. His smirk disappeared when he blocked the attack. He countered by unleashing a Chaos Hailstorm her way. Nightmare made a shield and blocked the attack, but she didn't notice him moving with his attack. Once it had ended, he was right upon her as she dropped her shield. Soler slashed at her, forcing her to wail as a gash was made on her chest. She pulled back from the hedgehog, and since it was night, her wound healed almost instantly. She glared at the hedgehog, his existence infuriating her. His expression didn't change, his eyes still unnerving as he looked upon her.

" **You know, Nightmare. Looking in your eyes, I can see just how filled with hatred they are.** " He started. She clenched her teeth, the thought of him lecturing her burned her soul.

"I will destroy you, hedgehog!" She screamed as he stared at her, unmoved by her outburst.

" **Looking at them reminds me of something I heard once. There's a thing about anger, if you let it consume you… You'll lose sight of everything.** " He finished. Nightmare's anger skyrocketed at how his attitude hadn't changed since the beginning of their fight, and how everything she does can't seem to make any injuries stay on him. Her horn lit up as she charged her next attack. Soler saw how wide open she was while charging, but didn't move, allowing her to charge the attack. She could see how he didn't even seem bothered by her attack, which only fueled her hatred for him. She unleashed the attack, sending multiple spear-like missiles at him from all directions. He stood motionless as the attack approached him. When her barrage of missiles collided with him, a wicked smile creeped across her face as she laughed maniacally.

"You know nothing, fool! Anger doesn't blind me, it fuels me!" She proclaimed.

" **You sure about that?** " She heard, and Soler's eyes pierced her 9own from her right side. She yelped in fear as she moved away from him, her heart now racing as fear and panic shot through her as she looked at the hedgehog.

"W… What are you?" She screamed at him. He smiled at the question.

" **I thought it was clear. I'm your nightmare!"** He shouted. Nightmare looked at him with fear for the first time as he started to approach her.

"Stay back!" She clamored as she started to randomly fire spells at him. Some made contact, but most missed in his continued approach towards her. She panicked, tears escaping her eyes as he approached. He slowly grew closer, step-by-step, until he vanished all together. She stopped firing, now wildly looked around for him.

" **Boo.** " He said from behind her. She whipped around as her eyes met his and became instantly paralyzed by them. He stretched his hand out to her and wiped a tear off her cheek, before jabbing his hand into her chest. Her eyes widened as tears continued to fall. " **Hmm, so it seems I can't kill you by normal means. But it seems you were brought back with negative Chaos Energy, and you're being is unstable from it. I wonder what would happen if I just pumped you with some more energy.** " Soler started pumping Chaos Energy into her. She seemed to grow more powerful, but as he kept pumping more into her, she started to wail in pain. He smiled at the screams as he continued, the energy overflowing inside of her. Nightmare started to bloat, taking on more energy than her body could handle.

"Please… Please stop." She begged frantically while her body expanded. Despite her body now reaching its limits, he didn't stop.

" **Told you I'd make you feel fear.** " He whispered just before the energy forced her body to explode. But there was no blood. Soler began to laugh evilly at what he had just done.

All the while, Luna watched this go on in utter disbelief, especially at how Soler defeated Nightmare Moon. But she was worried, Soler did not seem like the same hedgehog she'd fallen for. She was still extremely weak, but was able to sit herself up against a tree. Seeing him like that brought tears to her eyes. Soler stopped laughing and looked down at her, suddenly remembering that Luna was there. He landed in front of her and knelt down towards her, bringing his face closer to hers. He could see she was crying, but didn't seem to understand. Luna, with the rest of her strength, touched his face with her hoof.

"Soler… I know you're still in there. So please, come back to me." She pleaded as tears continued to fall. Soler gently placed his hand on her hoof, seemingly holding it there as he listened to her speak. "I know you're upset because of what Nightmare did, but she's gone now. So please come back to me." He looked into her watery eyes and felt his heart grow warm, and then, to his surprise, a tear rolled down his cheek. He closed his eyes and held her hoof. His dark aura started to fade, and his quills no longer flickered black. He wore a pained and saddened expression on his face as he held her hoof close to him. When he opened his eyes, Luna could see that they were no longer were cold or unnerving, normal once more, with a hint of sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Luna. I made you cry." He said. Luna smiled, he had come back to her.

"It's alright, Soler. All that matters is that you're back-" She fainted and fell into his arms.

"Luna!" He called out in concern. He saw that she was alive, though her breathing was faint. He held her and lifted her in his arms. He scanned around for any sign of Neo, but he was nowhere to be found. Soler looked at the Princess of the Night with much concern and worry.

"Don't worry, Luna. I'll get you back home for help." He promised. The moon was finally going down, ending that long and unforgiving night as the sun rose to another day. Soler watched it rise, then teleported away from that forest.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**_

The remaining group was circled around the map in the map room, completely on edge from a previous all-nighter.

"We still can't contact Soler?" Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.

"No. Still no response, Sonic." Sonic had been pacing since last night, utterly worried ever since he got Tails and Fluttershy last night.

"Sonic, are you sure that he just ran off like that?" Asked Applejack. Sonic groaned,

"For the hundredth time, yes, I'm positive he just ran off without saying why." He said with annoyance as he continued to pace.

"Sonic, just calm down and tell us what happened again. It's not making very much sense to us." Knuckles said. Sonic groaned louder, but stopped.

"Like I've repeated multiple times, Soler and I were just coming back from a run. It was about to get dark, and Soler was saying that he felt something was wrong, or something was going to happen. I tried to reassure him, but then he started acting weird. Then he yelled Luna's name, and ran off into the night." He explained. Sonic turned to Shadow, who was looking over the map. "Shadow, can't you sense him?"

"No." He said without looking up from the map.

"But why?" He asked, flabbergasted.

"Well, because it seems to be a pattern for that hedgehog to leave his Chaos Emerald behind." The black hedgehog responded, showing the Emerald Soler holds.

"So you're saying tracking him is not option?" Sonic responded. Shadow nodded. Sonic finally collapsed into a chair, defeated. It hurt Rainbow to see him like this, so she walked over to him and put a hoof around him.

"Hey. Don't worry, blue, I'm sure Soler is alright. Heck, he'll probably knock on the door to let him in as we speak." She said as a someone knocked on the castle doors. Sonic perked up instantly.

"Wow, babe. You're amazing!" He gave Rainbow a quick kiss on the cheek, and sped to the door. When he got to the door he expected a smiling Soler on the other side, but when he opened it, he was greeted by a royal guard. He lost his smile immediately.

"Twilight! It's for you." He shouted, walking away from the door. Twilight came running to the door and was surprised to see a royal guard.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked. The guard had a troubled look on his face.

"Princess, something terrible has happened." He started. Sonic walked back into the map room and took a seat again, clearly upset.

"I'm guessing it wasn't Soler?" Knuckles asked. Sonic glared at him as an answer. Right then, Twilight came running back into the room in a panic.

"Guys, we got a problem!" She said, getting all their attention.

"Calm down, sugarcube. What's the problem?"

"It's Luna, she's in the hospital, and is in critical condition." She added, causing all of them to have shocked faces, even Shadow.

"That's not all. Soler's there too."

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Canterlot Hospital)**_

The sounds of the heart monitor was all that Soler heard as he sat at Luna's bedside. Soler had ran her here from the forest after the battle with Nightmare Moon. When he brought her in, the doctors were stunned to see them both in such a state. They immediately got Luna to a room, saying she was in critical condition. They wanted to tend to Soler's wounds, but he wouldn't let them, making them focus all their efforts on her. They were able to stabilize her, and she'd been asleep ever since. Soler's been by her side since then too, his wounds from the battle still evident due to refusal to treatment.

When daybreak came, the doctors immediately notified Celestia. She came as soon as she heard to see her sister. When Celestia came and saw Luna and Soler, he could see how hurt she was to see them like this. He could tell that she wanted to cry, but with doctors in the room, she kept her composure. Soler didn't know how she did it with the situation.

 _Guess it must be from so many years of ruling that it became easy for her to do. To stay strong for her people_ , he figured. She asked what happened, and Soler told her the whole story about Neo and such. He didn't say anything about Nightmare Moon while the doctoring staff was there, and so he told her he'd explain in more detail later, when they're alone. The doctors said that they wanted to give her the details of her condition, so they led her out of the room. Soler watched Luna sleep peacefully, and then he gently stroked the side of her face.

"Luna, I'm so sorry. I'm the cause of all this." He whispered sadly. She didn't respond, her only movement that of her chest rising and falling. He hadn't felt this crushed in a long time, and it never felt good. He took a good look at her, his sadness gnawing at him, but he couldn't look away. The door to the room burst open, causing him to glance up. He saw Sonic standing there, breathing harshly while staring at him. Soler looked at him a bit confused. "Uh, hey." He was rushed with a punch to the noggin from the blue hedgehog.

"Oww! What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his head.

"That was for running off last night, not contacting anyone on where you were, and for other things." Sonic said, obviously irritated. Soler just sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry." He replied monotonously as he looked away from him. Sonic was about to say more, when realized Luna was asleep, right there. Before he could ask anything, the rest of the gang arrived to the room. When they saw Luna, they all gasped at her state.

"Oh my Celestia." Fluttershy said, saying what everyone else was thinking. They surrounded her bedside.

"What happened to her?" Tails asked. Then, everyone noticed how bad Soler looked.

"What happened to you?" Knuckles added. Soler continued looking at Luna, as if he didn't notice they were present. The group could look at his eyes and see the pain behind them. Rarity walked up to him and placed her hoof on his shoulder.

"Soler, darling?" She questioned. He looked to her and sighed.

"Well, it's kinda long, and a lot happened…" Soler proceeded to explain to them all what happened with Neo, and even about Nightmare Moon. When he finished, all had mixed feelings.

"Wait, so you're saying that Nightmare Moon came back? And you fought and beat her?" Rainbow asked. Soler nodded.

"Yeah, though I don't remember too much after I blacked out, but when I came to, I was looking at Luna." He said. Knuckles was livid.

"Damn that Neo, always causing problems." He muttered. Soler simply looked down, still feeling defeated. Shadow was the only one who seemed to be watching him the whole time, without a word. The conditions Luna and Soler were in brought about mixed moods in the room.

"Soler, you really should get those-"

"No. I'm fine, Twilight." He said, cutting her off. She seemed to back off from his abrupt tone. Shadow noticed this and decided to take some action.

"So, are you done then?" He asked, taking everyone by surprise, especially him. Soler resumed looking at Luna, ignoring Shadow. This irritated Shadow, now hovering over him. "So you're just going to ignore me?" Soler then lazily glanced up at him, briefly meeting his eyes.

"What did you say, Shadow?" He asked without any concern in his voice. This pissed off Shadow, and he yanked Soler, bringing him to eye level.

"I said, 'so are you done then?'" He repeated, the anger clear in his voice. The girls were about to intervene, but the guys stopped them. Soler just looked blankly at Shadow.

"Am I done with what?"

"Are you done with your mission? Are you giving up?" Shadow demanded. Soler expressions didn't change. He just looked at Shadow with a blank look, then looked away. Shadow gritted his teeth with growing vexation. "Don't you ignore me, hedgehog! I asked you a question! Now answer!" He shouted.

"Who knows…" Soler said quietly.

"What was that?"

"I said 'who knows.'" Soler repeated, now looking Shadow in his eyes.

"You don't know what?"

"I just don't know, Shadow!" He shouted, breaking out of his grasp, "I don't know if you couldn't tell, but I have something more important going on!" Shadow glared at him, prompting Soler to glare right back.

"Something important is going on. You need to be on the lookout for Neo in case he shows up. And not sitting here, moping in this hospital." Shadow stated. Soler clenched his fist.

"So you're saying that Neo is more important than her?" Soler clamored.

"Yes, he is at the moment. He's still at large, and you should be focusing your efforts on-" Soler punched Shadow in the face, shocking everyone in the room.

"Shut up, Shadow!" He said with impassioned fury in his voice. Shadow just wiped the small amount of blood from his lip.

"So I was right. This is all that it takes to break you, huh? Just one person you care for gets hurt like this, and you already throw in the towel. Pathetic." He commented.

"Pathetic? Pathetic! What would you know about caring for someone that you would put your life on the line for? Oh wait, you did care for someone. And what happened to her, huh?" Soler started, Shadow clenched his fist now as his scowl deepened. "Yeah, that's right. She died right in front of you. And all you could do was watch helplessly too, but do you want to know what takes the cake about all this? She died sending you down to the plant. She died for you! And you know how you repaid her act? You lost, you turned around and tried to destroy the same planet that she wanted to protect!" Shadow silenced him with a jab to the face.

"I'd hold your tongue if I were you, hedgehog." He said intensely.

"Oh, what? Did I strike a nerve mister ultimate lifeform? You have lost your memories so many times that you've forgotten what emotions are. Luna is here because of me! I'm the reason why she's hurt! If I had never gotten her involved, then this never would've happened. I said when we first got here that I was going to protect everyone. That I was going to make sure no one got seriously hurt. But look at her now, and it's all because of me. Because I couldn't keep my word." He almost whispered as he looked back to her, "How can I stop him if I can't even protect the ones I care for most?" His hint of grief faded when he glared at Shadow once more.

"So don't you dare come at me by telling me what's more important. Hell, this conversation probably won't matter to you anyway. You'll probably do something to make you lose your memory again, anyway." He added as he gazed out the window. The room became dead silent, sound coming only from the heart monitor. Nobody knew what to say, the tension made it difficult to even try to speak. Shadow just glared, Soler his fists still clenched.

"Fine, if you want, let Neo win. Be my guest." He responded as he began to walk out the room. Twilight was going to try to stop him, but she couldn't form any words to say. Shadow stopped before the door. "Oh yeah. I think you'll need this." He placed the Chaos Emerald on the dresser, and left. The group stood their, unsure of what to do. Sonic found his voice again.

"Guys, we should go."

"But Son-" He cut off Twilight by shaking his head.

"He needs time, Twi. Let's head back to the castle." He said, leading the group out of the room, leaving Soler and Luna. Once they left, and it was quiet again, the hedgehog sniffled as he looked out the window.

Everything leading up to this point had finally caught up with him.

He weeped silently.

 _And that's a wrap, guys. Man, things just got real, like really real. Only a few more chapters left in this arc though. Wonder how it's going to end… Anywho, once the first arc is over, I'll be starting my next story, and adding in some more chapters to my One-Off Tales. There's only one chapter in there now, but please check it out, if you please. So this has been Solerwolf… OUT!_


	28. Chapter 28

_A look back at our past can help us remember what made us who we are today…_

 _ **Chapter 28: Past**_

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler)**_

Soler sat there, watching Luna sleep peacefully, as he had done for the past two days. None of his friends had tried to contact him, nor visit, since the argument he and Shadow had when they were there. Celestia returned every once in awhile to check on them, but could never stay long since she had to raise the sun and the moon once more. When she did come by, she didn't say much to him, sensing that something was going on and not wanting to disturb his thinking. Soler sighed and stood up, taking a outside. It was strangely gloomy today, and since he learned that pegasi control the weather in Equestria, it was weird that it wasn't sunny.

 _Guess everyone's due for some rain_ , he figured.

"Why is it that those I care for always get hurt because of me?" He asked no one. He looked back at Luna, which made his heart hurt, just like every other time he did, his guilt continued growing. "It's all my fault that you're in here, Luna. And I'm so sorry for it." He noticed the Chaos Emerald Shadow left behind, and walked over to pick it up. Once in his hands, he felt the same surge of power he always did when he held one. This time, however, it didn't give him the rush that he enjoyed, he felt nothing at all. Soler walked back over to Luna and sat down next to her, staring at the emerald.

"I can have all this power, but still get those around me hurt, or worse." He added. The white hedgehog looked at Luna, then closed his eyes as he placed his head next to hers.

 _Please Luna, be okay and forgive me._ He thought as a tear rolled down his face. Soler didn't see that Luna's horn and the Chaos Emerald both started glowing. The dim glow grew in size until the light covered the entire area.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Twilight's Castle)**_

It was gloomy in Ponyville, a sudden rain covering the small town. Sonic looked out a window, watching the rainfall.

"Man, it's raining cats and dog out there." He noted. Rainbow walked up next to him and took view of the rain as well.

"Yeah, it's coming down out there."

"Did you know about this storm coming in?" Sonic asked. She shook her head.

"Nope. I don't remember getting any notices about a storm from the weather team."

"Maybe the storm was on short notice?" He asked. She just shrugged in response. The group had all come into the library before the storm hit. Applejack and Knuckles were playing cards, Tails was reading a book with Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie were discussing something, and Twilight was writing on some documents as Spike napped beside to her. Shadow was in the map room, gazing over it as he'd done the past few days. Sonic and plopped down on a nearby bean bag chair.

"Man, today is so boring." He said aloud. Rainbow flew over to him and lied down right next to him.

"Yeah. The rain is a total buzzkill." She said as she snuggled up next to him.

"Well, what do you expect? It's rain." Knuckles stated without looking up from his game.

"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be so gloomy."

"Well tough luck, hedgehog. How are you beating me?" Knuckles said in exasperation. AJ chuckled.

"It's called 'skill,' partner. And I believe that's game." She said prompting a groan from the echidna.

"Best four out of five." He responded. She nodded, and they set up another game.

"Well I hope it lets up soon." Fluttershy said.

"I'm sure it'll clear up sooner or later." Tails replied.

"Yes, this rain is bad for business. And I'm just glad I was able to get Sweetie Bell to school before it hit. I hate to get my mane wet." Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah, I was glad to get Scoots there before it hit too." Rainbow added.

"Same here with Apple Bloom." Applejack added.

"Well let's not let this rain keep our spirits down and let's party!" Pinkie said.

"Pinkie, as much as I like your enthusiasm, I don't think we have anything to party about. Especially with all that's happened." Sonic replied, emphasizing the last part. Everyone briefly stopped what they were doing, all thinking the same thing.

"Sonic, have you been able to talk to Shadow?" Fluttershy asked. Sonic shook his head.

"Nope. Haven't been able to get much, if anything, outta him besides his signature glare." Sonic sighed, "If Soler were here, he'd find someway to get some words out of him." Mentioning Soler didn't help the mood. Sonic wrapped an arm around Rainbow when started shifting.

"How's Twilight been?" She asked so the others couldn't hear.

"She's quieter than normal since we came back from the hospital. She's tried talking to Shadow, but to no avail. I think it might be getting to her." He whispered back. The pony-in discussion was busy writing on some documents and signing papers. She hadn't spoken since they had all gotten together, her mind too clouded with thoughts, and her heart full of emotions. Just then, the hedgehog-in-question walked into the room, taking everyone by surprise. Everyone ceased what they were doing and looked up at him.

"Shadow?" Twilight said. He didn't say anything, but he looked like he had something on his mind. He sighed and opened his mouth, but was cut off by the sudden sound of hooves running down the hall. They turned to see Starlight, drenched with rain, and her face panicked.

"Starlight, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Guys, we've got a problem!" She shouted.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler)**_

Soler opened his eyes, no longer in the hospital anymore. Instead, he was in a castle.

"Well this ain't the hospital anymore." He said, also realizing that he didn't have the Chaos Emerald anymore. "Welp, that seems to be the theme of the story. Might as well look around." He stood and walked around for a bit, and noticed that this castle didn't look like Celestia's castle in Canterlot. It looked a little more rustic than the newer castles he'd seen. He then strolled into what he thought was the throne room, and disbelief fell over him. There were two thrones at the end, behind which were two banners, one bearing a pearl alicorn and the sun, the other toting a sable alicorn and the moon.

"This can't be right. These banners are in Celestia and Luna's old castle, and that place looked like it had been a warzone. Plus, it looked ancient, while this place still looks new." He said with awe, when a thought came to mind, "Am I-" Soler began to hear crying. He went to investigate.

He followed the sounds of sobbing through the corridors, trying his best to not get lost like he did the first time he was in the castle. He eventually came upon a cracked door, light shining through, as did the crying noises. He slowly crept up to the door and peeked in. Soler saw a little filly, crying in front of a fireplace. The filly pegasus had darkish blue fur along with a lighter blue mane. He silently made his way inside the room, and inched towards the little filly, who felt familiar to him. As he got closer, he noticed that she had a horn on her head, as well as a crescent moon cutie mark. He knew who she was and his thoughts from before were confirmed. He was in the past. Filly Luna was crying, which broke his heart.

"Hey, don't cry, Luna. It'll be alright." He said in a soothing voice. He slowly crouched down to her level. "It's okay. I'm here for you." He was about to touch her mane, but right when was going to, he heard the door open up, causing them to look up. In the doorway was a white alicorn with a pink mane. She looked older than was surprised that her mane used to be one color. Celestia saw the crying Luna, but didn't seem to notice Soler.

"Luna, what's wrong?" She asked as she walked in. Luna stopped crying, instead continuing her sniffling.

"It's nothing, Tia." Luna replied in a higher-pitched voice. Celestia then walked straight through Soler, much to his surprise.

"It doesn't seem like nothing." She said, sitting down next her and wrapping a wing around her, "Now please tell me what's wrong, sister." Luna looked up to her sister and her warming eyes.

"I'm scared." She said, much to both Celestia's and Soler's surprise.

"What are you scared of?"

"I'm scared of raising the moon by myself. I know that I'm going to have to start raising it by myself soon, and I see you raise it and make it look easy. I mean, when I attempted to raise it by myself in the past, I always had to have you help me." She revealed. Celestia brought Luna into an affectionate hug that she accepted.

"Dear sister, it's okay to be a little afraid. I was afraid to raise the sun and moon by myself too, but that didn't mean I didn't have help, much like you do. Luna, I'll always be here to help you, whenever you need it." Celestia said soothingly.

"You mean it?"

"I mean it." She responded with a smile. Luna smiled brightly and went back in for a hug.

"I love you, Tia." She said. Celestia smiled.

"And I love you, Luna." Soler watched the entirety of the touching scene, his heart, warmed. Then the room seem to get shrink as the scene started to further itself from him, until everything around him was white.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Ponyville)**_

The rain poured down as Sonic and friends ran through the rain.

 _Dammit! Why did he have to pop up now?_ Sonic brooded as he ran with the others. It was only a few moments ago that they were all sitting in the castle library when Starlight burst in, panicked.

"Guys, we've got a problem!" She had shouted. Everyone looked at her with surprise, concerned.

"Alright, Starlight. Just calm down and tell us what's going on." Twilight said to her pupil. Starlight caught her breath before speaking.

"Neo, he's been spotted outside of Ponyville." She almost gasped as she said it. At the sound of No's name, everyone instantly rose up simultaneously.

"Neo's outside of Ponyville? What's he doing." Shadow asked her.

"I don't know. I was just in the area coming back when I spotted him floating in the air, looking over Ponyville. He didn't move or anything, but I wasn't going to take any chances, so I ran back here as fast as I could to tell you guys." She finished. Everyone bore stunned expressions after finding out that he wasn't attacking.

"What's that Neo up to now?" AJ said.

"I don't know, but him being here isn't a good sign." Knuckles added, adding to uncertainty of his presence meant, though Sonic and Shadow both had the same face. They knew.

"He's here to finish things." Sonic remarked, taking everyone by surprise.

"What do you mean by 'finish things?'" RD asked.

"He's ready to settle everything that's been building up to this point. It's the final bout between us and Neo." Shadow responded.

"Final battle? As in-"

"This will decide whether we live or die." Shadow added when Fluttershy spoke. His remark shook the girls with the knowledge that if they went to fight Neo, it was for keeps. The guys took notice of this and seemed to share a collective thought.

"Look girls, we're grateful for all you guys have done for us up till now. But we can't ask you guys to risk your lives more than you already have to beat Neo. So we understand if you don't want to come into this final fight with us." Sonic said as he, Tails, and Knuckles joined Shadow by the doorway. The girls all displayed a sort of heaviness that had never existed before. They looked at the guys, and could see that their minds were set and ready to give everything to win, even their lives. The guys could see how this sudden choice was affecting them, and so decided to get on with the final fight, until a hoof on Sonic's shoulder stopped him. He turned around to Rainbow staring at him intently.

"We've been through Hades and back since Neo showed up. He's toyed with us, and even broken some of us. But thanks to you guys, we were able to rebuild ourselves up better than we've been before. So if you think that we're going to just sit back and let you guys fight this fight by yourself, Neo won't be the only thing you have to worry about." She declared confidently. The other girls felt Rainbow's words and conviction swelled into their hearts as they all stood and walked to the doorway. Sonic and the guys smirked, taking note of their newfound confidence, Shadow simply observed. For some reason, Twilight was the only one who saw Shadow's silent watch, and sensed that he didn't want them to come. This only made her feel more confident, gaining a sense of approval from the hedgehog.

"If we're done talking, we need to get moving." Shadow commented, reinstating the grim reality of the situation. They opened the front doors, and were faced with a raging storm. Everyone stood together as the last bits of courage formed within them, steadying their minds.

"Let's go." Sonic said, and everyone walked out except for Rarity, prompting looks from the others.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked.

"Well you see, darling, I want to stop Neo as much as you do, but this rain will just ruin my mane." She protested. They all deadpanned at the prissy pony. Applejack sighed and walked behind Rarity.

"Listen Rarity, I understand ya don't want to get your mane wet and all, but-" She stopped and pushed Rarity into the storm, causing her to shriek. "We got a job to do, and look, you're already wet." Rarity just glared at the smugly grinning pony as she rejoined the group. Twilight stopped and turned back to Starlight.

"Starlight, I want you to stay behind and get a message to Celestia, telling her to contact Soler. We might need his help." She said before the group charged into the storm.

After running through pouring rain that shows no signs of stopping, they reached the outskirts of Ponyville. Neo stood there, clearly waiting to meet them. The group entered battle stances once they saw him. Neo looked at them and chuckled.

"So, you've finally arrived."

 _ **(P.O.V Soler)**_

All he could see was white until he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw he was back in the same castle.

"Hmm, doesn't look like much has changed. Maybe I've gone a bit later in time?" He questioned aloud. He decided to walk around to see if he could find anyone. He was going through a corridor when he started to hear voices.

"Luna, please."

"No sister! You do not understand what I'm going through." Soler followed the voices until he came upon a room. He looked in and found Luna and Celestia arguing. Luna looked much like what she does in the present, as did Celestia, though her mane and tail were still pink.

"Luna, I want to understand. Please just explain it to me." Celestia pleaded.

"When you raise the sun everyday, our subjects bask in its glow. They rejoice and have fun while under you're sunlight. But when I raise the moon, they all go to sleep and don't see the beauty of the moon and stars I bring out every night. Everyone loves Celestia, while no one notices Luna." She spat, hurt in her voice. Celestia looked at her sister, pained at hearing her troubles. She tried to comfort her, but Luna pushed her away angrily. "I don't need your pity, sister." The darkness in her tone took both Soler and Celestia by surprise.

"Luna, I-"

"No! I don't know why I tried to explain this to you since you'd never understand. Just get out." She said, looking away from Celestia. Celestia tried to say something else, but Luna cut her off. "I said, LEAVE!" She used her magic to push Celestia out and slammed the door. Soler remained in the room as he gaped at Luna, having never seen her so furious and hurt before. It made him wish he could comfort her. Luna stared at the door for a few moments before turning away and looking out the window.

"The only way I'll get them to appreciate the night is if I take matters into my own hands. But I won't be able to do it with that wretched Celestia around." She said, then she burst out into a maniacal laughter in a voice far different from her own. "I know exactly what to do about her. And once she's out of the way they'll all see the beauty of an eternal night." Going into another fit of maniacal laughter. Soler closed his eyes as everything dissipated into white again

 _What is it that I have to see?_ He wondered, once again opening his eyes, back in the same castle. This time, though, it looked like a fight was going on, evidenced by holes in the building and parts of it crumbling. Then, he felt the entire place rumble, and heard something that sounded like a blast.

"Man, all hell's broke loose here." He said. The castle rumbled again and more of the stones fragmented and dropped down. Soler took off in search of the cause of the rumblings. He soon found himself in what appeared to be the throne room, though the ceiling was holed, and the overall area a battle scar itself. He was about to walk further in but came to a stop when a random blast of magic struck down right before him. He glanced up and saw Celestia flying back into the room through one of the ceiling's holes, blasting at something. She dived out the way of an attack, and then another being entered the room. Soler instantly recognized the being as Nightmare Moon. She and Celestia were battling with all they had, flying about while firing blasts of magic he'd never seen. As they fought, Soler looked outside and his eyes widened.

The moon was eclipsing the sun!

"So this is what she meant by 'eternal night.'" He commented. His thoughts were interrupted Celestia collapsed with a thud, six gem stones lying around her.

"Finally, the mighty Celestia has fallen." Nightmare said as she hovered above her. Celestia looked at Nightmare and noticed the gems around her.

"Luna, please. I don't want to fight you, sister." She pleaded. Nightmare laughed at her.

"Poor Celestia, Luna is no more. Now there is only night! And it's time to get rid of you." She stated, charging her horn. Celestia looked at the scattered gems, and the gems all levitated as her horn lit up. The gems started to circle before her, around the purple gem as a rainbow trail formed in their spinning. Nightmare failed to notice this in her headlong charge. The gems' glows brightened. Once they were at their brightest, Soler saw a tear roll down Celestia's face.

"I'm sorry, Luna." She whispered as she released her attack, shocking Nightmare. Nightmare screamed in agony as the attack struck her, Celestia giving everything to maintain it. The attack's brightness forced Soler to shield his eyes. Once the light had faded, he took a peek and saw that Nightmare wasn't there anymore, and Celestia's mane and tail were multi-colored again. She was passed out on the ground.

 _Guess the attack took everything outta her_ , Soler noted, taking a look outside, growing alarmed when he saw the moon. The moon looked like it had the head of a horned mare in it. Once he saw the moon, the scene started to whiten once more again, and so he closed his eyes. When Soler opened them again, he saw that he was looking at a planet this time.

"Wow, wonder what place is?" He said. He looked around and could see that the surface he stood on was white, and had plenty of craters, the vastness of space surrounding him. "Well it's a good thing I can breath in space, else I'd be dead." Soler began to walk around the new scene, slowly realizing it to be the moon. He continued to walk, and eventually heard a voice.

"Damn that Celestia, sending me to the moon." He heard a familiar voice. He looked into a crater near by and saw Nightmare Moon pacing around, highly upset. "I will get my revenge on you, Celestia. And I will take over Equestria, if it's the last thing I do! Your little spell won't last forever, and when it dies, I'll make sure you die!"

"Man, I thought only Egghead liked to monologue." Soler remarked. He watched Nightmare continue to shout, full of rage. Soler didn't know what to think seeing Luna like this, like someone he didn't even know.

 _Everything should've changed by now_ , Soler wondered, seeing how the scene had yet to whiten. He pointless waited for the scene to change. He knew that it hadn't changed because Nightmare had ceased her shouting, and was doing something else. He didn't care much for what she was doing, since she didn't even know he was there, or interact with him. So he slid down the outside of the crater and just sat there, looking at what he now knew was Equestria. The planet looked much like Mobius to him, making him a little homesick.

"I've only been here a few minutes, and I'm already feeling the loneliness. I couldn't imagine staying here for a thousand years." He muttered. Those minutes turned into what felt like hours as the solitude slowly overtook him. His knees were to his chest, and he put his head down. He didn't know how long he was sitting there, since there was no sound in space, and the silence was deafening. It seemed like days were passing by, but then he heard something he never would've expected. He heard sniffling.

Soler lifted his head and looked over to see Luna, in her normal state, sitting beside him. She was weakly crying as she stared at the planet. He didn't need her to say anything to understand what she was feeling. Being up here, alone, just looking at her home and unable to return. It could ruin anyone's mindset, which made him feel sad for Luna. He was about to reach over and touch her, when the scene started to whiten again.

This time, instead of the scene remaining white and moving to another memory, multiple memories started to pass by him. There was one of Nightmare Moon being stopped by Twilight and her friends. Then, there was another of Luna scaring some kids. Yet another image passed by of her stopping some creature with the residents of Ponyville. All the while, the voices and things said passed by with the images. He looked on and watched how much Luna had changed into the mare she is today, warming him inside. Then the memories stopped at one, a more recent one. It was when he and Luna had first met and enjoyed the night sky together. He smiled, remembering the night and how nervous he acted.

He watched the scene replay as it had that night, bringing back sweet memories for him. It was about the time when they were going to separate and Luna was about to fly off. She said her good-byes and flew off, leaving him there. Soler thought the memory would end right there, but it didn't, and continued following Luna back to her room. Luna watched as the moon set and the sun rise, a smile on her face.

"I think I might like that hedgehog." She said to herself. Right after, the scene switched, and then memories of the time the two had spent together flashed by. The times they would write letters to each other, times when they joked with each other, and times when they would sit and enjoy each others' company. Several emotions swirled in Soler, watching all these memories, making him more confident in his feeling for the Princess.

Then, the memories stopped at the most recent thing they both went through, the fight with Nightmare Moon. Soler clenched his fists at having to see the memory. It replayed just like it did that night, all the way til he beat Nightmare Moon. He was holding Luna again, talking to her, only he was in his semi-dark form. The same conversation brought about a growth in his guilt, when he noticed something that he didn't the first time it happened. The look in Luna's eyes wasn't that of resentment towards him, but of relief and slight happiness. And she was glad to have him back, with a smile he didn't notice the first time around. The scene then blanked, remaining so this time. His head swirled with new thoughts and emotions.

"So she wasn't-"

"Upset with you? No, I wasn't." He heard a voice say. He turned and found Luna standing there, smiling at him. He looked at her, but he couldn't meet her eyes,

"Luna, I'm sorry for-"

"You needn't apologize, Soler. I know it wasn't your fault."

"But it is my fault, if I had never gotten you involved, then-"

"Then, I would've gotten myself involved, anyway." She said as she walked up to him. He looked at her, surprised by her words. She placed a hoof on his cheek, and he put his hands over it, holding it there. "I don't blame you, Soler, just like no one else does. You did all you could to protect me, much like your friends do. Now you need to wake up and go to their aid. It's time to finish things with Neo." Soler let go of her hoof and nodded as calmly as Luna spoke.

"You're right. Thanks." He said. She smiled and inclined her head.

"Now make me a promise before you leave. Promise to come back alive, no matter what, and stop that Neo." She said as she started to fade.

"I promise I'll come back." He said. She grinned as she dwindled away completely, and everything went black.

Soler opened his eyes, back in the hospital beside Luna again. He could hear rain pouring down as the storm finally came in. He stood and looked out the window and at the raging storm, knowing that he had a destiny to meet out there. The doors to the room burst open, and a guard entered.

"Soler, I have a message from Princess-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll be on my way over there shortly." He said with renewed spirit. He picked up the Emerald and looked at Luna. "Don't worry, Luna. I'll be back soon." He bent down and kissed her forehead, something he wasn't expecting to do, but which felt natural.

"And that's a promise." Soler continued out the door and made his way to the first floor of the hospital. He opened the doors leading outside and saw the storm in full effect.

 _Hang on, guys. I'm on my way._ And with that last thought, Soler boomed out of the hospital.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Ponyville)**_

The group of heroes stood together, prepared to fight Neo.

"Well we didn't want to keep you waiting. That would've been just rude." Sonic mocked.

"You still have that annoying smart mouth of yours. It's going to be fun shutting it up for good." Neo retorted.

"As if. We've beaten you before, and we can do it again." Sonic replied. Neo chuckled at his remark.

"Yes, you did defeat me once before. I underestimated you and your little friends' powers, which led to my downfall. But things have changed this time. I have a new power, unlike last time, which will destroy you." He said. Sonic only snickered and shook his head.

"Yeah, all the power in the world can't beat us, Neo. And you know why? Because we stand and fight together! You fight alone, and that'll always be your downfall!" Sonic proclaimed, his words bringing courage to his friends. Neo laughed at the hedgehog's words.

"Yes, maybe in the past that would be true, but things are different now." Neo proceeded to outstretch his fingers and shoot small projectiles into the ground. He shot out a massive number of them, scattering around the field. The group was confused, wondering what was going to happen and what to do. Then, each of the small objects started to move, growing in size, then developing limbs. They watched in shock as each one of the small projectiles quickly became Neo clones. They were exact replicas of the robot, though entirely silver and blue. Each clone's eyes lit up in unison with a glowing red, activated. Neo laughed at the looks on their faces. "So, still think you have any hope of a chance against me?" The group looked at the mini army before them, their spirits being shaken.

"NEO!" A voice shouted seeming to shatter the tension. With a boom, something burst through the group of Neo clones, towards the group. Once it broke through, the being stopped in front of them, its back turned to them. All of their spirits rose at the sight before them.

"Soler!" Twilight shouted. Soler gave Neo a death glare, but upon hearing his name, he stopped and gave his friends a thumbs up with a smile.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late, guys. Couldn't let you guys start the party without me." He said.

"Well it's better late than never, hedgehog." Knuckles added.

"Yeah, you know, I had things on my mind." He replied, looking back at Neo.

"Shadow…" Soler started.

"Save it for later." Shadow responded. Soler smirked and turning his attention back on Neo. Neo seemed to brighten up, seeing his old foe once again.

"I didn't think you'd be coming with your little princess being where she is." He mocked. Soler kept his cool and smirked.

"Yeah? Well I got a job to do, ya know, and that comes first. So let's make this quick." He said. Neo only chuckled.

"I agree." The army seemed to respond to his words as all prepared for battle, clone army and the heroic team alike. Then behind them, they heard a warning siren coming from the town, telling the residents to stay indoors.

"Hey! Listen up, guys. This might be the last thing you hear me say." Soler called, gaining the group's attention. "I know when we first met, we didn't all meet eye-to-eye, but we worked together from that place, and look at how far we've come! Standing together as a team! And I wouldn't want anyone else by my side." His words brought confidence and courage to their hearts.

"Now this might well be our last fight. But no matter what, we can't let Neo win this battle, for if we lose this fight, not only will it be the end of us, but all of Equestria as we know it. And I won't let that happen, just like I know you guys won't either. So my last words to you, no matter what happens, we don't break this line! We stand together, until the end!" He shouted, and then the group charged into the final battle.

 _This is the start of the last battle of this arc. Welp, these last few chapters will be longer than usual. It's been a long road, but this is it, the last battle. Check out my other works, I think you guys might like one of the chapters I put up. And if you don't check it out, I'm going to ask the same question I asked there. What do you guys imagine Luna (the Hedgehog) looks like? There's no wrong answers here, just me being curious on what you guys think she looks like before the reveal. Anyway, this is Solerwolf… OUT!_


	29. Chapter 29

_Sometimes, we have to sacrifice our future so others can have theirs…_

 _ **Broken Promise**_

 _ **( . none, Outskirts of Ponyville)**_

"Don't let up!" Soler shouted, stabbing another clone, "We have to protect Ponyville!" The storm raged on as the hedgehog and his friends fought valiantly against the onslaught of Neo clones, taking down as many as possible in an attempt to carve a path to Neo, who sat at the back and watched.

Soler, Shadow, Knuckles and Applejack were at the front lines trashing all clones that stood in their way. Twilight and Rarity provided cover fire, blasting stray clones, while Tails, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were the last line. Tails and Fluttershy took to the skies, pointing out clusters of clones and any strays as Pinkie did her best to back anyone becoming overwhelmed, and stopping any other stray clones. Sonic and Rainbow moved with speed, cutting through the horde and taking down anything that was in their way.

The battle was only at its beginning, so the group had plenty of energy to fight. However, the number of clones didn't seem to be decreasing, no matter how many they took down. Knuckles punched another one through the chest in a shower of sparks as he pulled his fist out. He grabbed the defeated bot and started to slam it into other bots, sending them flying until all that was left of the one in his gloves was an arm.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like we're not even making a dent in these things?" He asked, knocking another one away.

"I feel the same, partner." AJ started, before bucking one's head off, "It don't feel like we're doin' anything."

"Come on, guys. Don't start to talk like that, we can do this." Soler encouraged, throwing a charged Chaos Spear through a number of clones, killing at least six with that shot. Shadow was doing the same, throwing Spears into the army, making every Spear count.

"Soler, they're right. We've had to have taken down at least fifty bots by now and it doesn't look like we've even taken down ten." Shadow remarked as he kicked another one away. Instead of thinning, the clone army's numbers seemed to only grow.

 _Hate to admit it, but they're right. What is it that I'm forgetting?_ He thought, then a memory of when he first encountered the clones entered his head. He remembered taking down one with ease, but then the two halves became two more clones. _Shit! I forgot._

"Guys, we have a problem. These clones all have Neo's regenerative nanites." He said.

"And that means?" Knuckles asked.

"It means we can fight these guys for hours, but they'll only keep coming." Shadow responded, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Exactly. The only way to stop them is to get to Neo and take him down. But we can't get close to him with all these clones in the way." Soler said before taking down another few clones. THen SHadow had a thought.

"We don't need to get to him. You do." He said. Soler glanced at him with questionably for a brief moment.

"What? I'm not going to leave you guys to fight these guys. You'll need my-"

"We'll be fine." Shadow interrupted, "Soler. Out of all of us here, Neo hates you the most. And you hate him. He's sitting back there, waiting for you to come finish what began those years ago, when he killed Luna to draw out your power. Out of all of us, you're the one who can stop him and end all of this. If you're worried about us not lasting for long, then that just means you need to take him out as fast as you can. Got it?" Soler took in his words, knowing that Shadow was right.

 _I'm the only one who can stop Neo now, but I don't wanna leave everyone_ , he thought. Soler glanced back and saw Twilight and the others fighting with everything they had, trying to protect their friends their home. He then turned to the battle, where Sonic boomed through clones, and Rainbow nose dived in and out of the army, causing as much havoc as possible. Then he looked out at Neo, who stared at him, indicating impatience.

Soler took a deep breath and released it.

"You're right. I'm the only one who can stop him, and he's waiting for me."

"Exactly. So get going, and you'll need this." Shadow then threw him his Chaos Emerald.

"Wait! You'll need this more then me." Soler pleaded. Shadow only shook his head.

"I'll be fine. I have enough energy to last until you finish him." He replied. Soler looked down at it and smirked.

"Nah. I think you'll need it more. But thanks." He said, tossing it back to Shadow, much to his surprise. "Now you guys just hold out until I finish him, okay?" He then proceeded to jump onto the head of the nearest clone and hopped from head to head, straight towards Neo. Shadow cursed under his breath.

"What's the problem of him not having one of those Emeralds?" AJ asked, bucking another clone in the chest.

"Neo has three Emeralds powering him. We have three Emeralds, but I have one, Sonic has one, and Soler has the other. If Soler's going to battle Neo, he's going to need as much firepower as possible. And with him having only one Emerald, he's going into that fight heavily handicapped." He explained as he blasted another clone away.

Soler hopped from bot to bot until he landed in front of Neo. Neo just looked at him with enjoyment.

"Glad to see you've finally arrived." He commented.

"Yeah. Sorry I kept ya waiting, but I think we have a dance to finish." Soler retorted, entering a battle stance.

"Agreed." Neo said, and the two distanced themselves from the battle. To fight alone.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler & Neo)**_

The two stopped some space away from the battle, still able to see it from their position. The rain continued falling as the two glared at each other, sizing each other up. Their last fight was to begin shortly.

"I never would have thought that we would finally get to this point, this battle, our final battle. It seems like only yesterday I came and slaughtered your little home in front of your eyes." Neo commented. Soler clenched his fists, but calmed himself with the knowledge of the mind game being played.

"Yeah. It does seem like yesterday, huh? Back when I was too weak to do anything to stop you. But look at us now, some new tricks, new powers, and ready to finish what was started so long ago." Soler replied. Neo laughed.

"Yes. There's that wit I've come to hate to love. I can't wait till it turns into screams of agony." Soler merely snickered.

"Yeah. And I can't wait until I shut that mouth of yours up for good." He retorted. Done with words, they sized each other up one last time, then charged, forming Chaos Spears in their hands. Just as they were to clash, Soler jumped up and dived at him with the Spear. Ready for it, Neo leaned to the side, causing Soler to just clash with Neo's Spear and land to his side.

The two quickly back-slashed their Spears striking up sparks of energy. The two jumped away from each other, then collided again with their Spears. This time, Soler tried to sweep kick Neo, who read ahead and jumped over it. He retaliated by kneeing Soler in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He then kicked him in the chest, forcing Soler back a few feet. Soler strained for breath, but as he flew back, he threw his Spear at Neo, nicking his face. Neo dropped his spear. Soler recovered to some extent and landed on his feet.

After quickly steadying his breathing, he charged at Neo again, Spear in hand. Neo recovered from the attack with self-repairing injuries. Seeing Soler coming, he wasn't fast enough to block his attack, so he barely dodged it. Soler took this advantage and continued slashing at Neo, who dodged them. Once Neo saw a chance, he formed a Spear and clashed with Soler. The two entered a duel of swinging at each other, their attacks dodged and blocked.

Soler leapt away from Neo and decided to try using his speed. He dashed at Neo and slashed, but Neo kept blocking them. Soler picked up speed with each failed attempt, gaining ground on him as he saw his attacks become too fast to be blocked. When Soler had caught Neo off guard, he kicked him away, entering a spinball with Spear in hand. He homed right in for Neo, who swiftly brought up his Spear in defense. Soler's attack collided with his Spear as Neo struggled to maintain his guard, the velocity of Soler's spinning was causing him to lose his footing. Then, much to Soler's pleasure, Neo's Spear broke.

Soler immediately left his spinball mid-spin and slashed down over Neo's eye, causing him to wail a bit. After landing, Soler bucked Neo in the chest, sending him flying. Still not done, he stood and attacked Neo with a barrage of slashes and hits as he flew. Soler finished off his attack by drop kicking Neo to the ground, producing a mini crater where Neo landed. Soler quickly backed off, catching his breath, content with his work. His smirk disappeared as Neo got back up, covered in deep slashes spat sparks. In a matter of seconds, Neo's wounds were gone, leaving him looking as good as new. Soler gritted his teeth.

 _Dammit! I keep forgetting about his nanites._ Soler agonized as the two glared at each other, only for Neo to blink away. A surprised Soler looked around for him, desperately trying to find him. Out of nowhere, Soler took a heel to the side of his face as Neo punted him, hard. Soler was knocked a few feet to the side, and Neo had already disappeared, leaving his vision was slightly blurry, and his ear ringing. But Soler couldn't relax, since Neo appeared once more and jabbed him in the gut, then teleported away again. Neo teleported around Soler, barraging the defenseless hedgehog with countless blows. Neo's attack ended when he slammed Soler face-first into the ground.

Before Soler could stand, Neo put his foot on his back and grabbed both of his wrists. He then proceeded to violently pull them, causing Soler to cry out in pain. Neo pulled hard, trying to rip his arms off. In a last ditched effort, before his arms popped, Soler quickly charged Chaos Energy and unleashed an attack, to end the excruciating pain.

"Chaos Blast!" He shouted, blasting Neo away. Soler hastily tried to regain himself as he healed himself a bit with the Emerald, numbing the pain and clearing his vision. He stood and moved his arms around, making sure they were still in place. Neo landed a few yards away and calmly regained himself, rising again. The two stared at each other for a moment, preparing their next attacks. Soler put his hands together and began to charge his attack, as did Neo. The two placed a lot of energy into their attack, their hands sparking violently with energy.

"Chaos Cannon!" They shouted simultaneously, releasing their massive blasts of Chaos Energy, an explosion joined by blinding light as the two attacks met.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Ponyville Battle)**_

Twilight blasted another bot that got past the front line just before it could reach them. In all her life, from facing Nightmare Moon, to Discord, Chrysalis, and even Terik, she wouldn't have thought she'd be fighting an army with her friends. They've all been through so much since she came to Ponyville, but this fight, this battle, was far beyond the baddies they usually fought.

 _Can we really handle all of this?_ She wondered as she looked over to Rarity, who pushed back a group of bots with a shield spell. She could see the constant use of magic draining her friend to exhaustion. It didn't help that they knew little battle magic.

"Rarity! If you need a breather, just fall back, I can handle things here." Twi said as she got rid of another bot.

"Oh, don't worry, darling. I'm fine. I could do this all day." She boasted in spite of her apparent fatigue. The resolve in Rarity's eyes stopped Twilight from pressing the issue.

 _She's prepared to give it her all._ Twilight realized, _But am I?_ She turned towards Shadow and saw how fierce he fought, certain of victory. She shook her head and pushed back some bots.

 _My friends are here with me, and Ponyville is my home. I won't let any bot get close to harming my friends or my home!_ She thought as a new fire ignited in her soul. She flew up into the air and charged a spell.

"Everyone fall back!" She shouted. Shadow, Knuckle, and AJ all looked up at her then fell back by Rarity. Once they were out the way, she unleashed a powerful beam of magic upon all nearby bots, leaving any bot within fifty feet of the group destroyed. This gave the group a breather. Shadow went to help Twilight stay standing as she landed with heavy breathing.

"Nice blast, sugarcube!" AJ cheered.

"Yeah. Nice job, Twi." Knuckles added. Twilight smiled from their praise. Then, she blushed when she found Shadow looking directly at her.

"It was a good attack, but don't strain yourself too much, Twilight." He said with concern in his voice. She was taken by surprise, but they heard a massive explosion before she could respond. All looked out over the battlefield, taking note of a huge cloud of dust behind the army.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Soler and Neo. Looks like things are getting serious." Shadow remarked. The injured and undeterred Sonic and Rainbow both stopped in front of the group.

"Okay. One, Twilight, that was an awesome attack you did on those robots. And two, what caused that explosion?" RD asked. Pinkie and the others had joined the rest of the group, also taking a breather.

"Well, that explosion was Soler fighting Neo right now." Shadow explained.

"Wait, Soler's fighting Neo? Did you at least give him your Emerald?" Sonic asked. Shadow shook his head.

"You know how he is. I gave him my Emerald, but he just threw it back to me and ran off before I could protest." Sonic cursed under his breath. He sighed and let it go.

"Okay, fine. So from Twilight's attack wiping out the closest ones to us, and at the rate that these things put themselves back together, I'm going to guess we have maybe a minute before the next line gets to us, and the ones from before rebuild themselves." Sonic added. The girls didn't think they could rebuild that fast, but when they looked over, they could already see pieces of bots morphing together and reforming limbs. Seeing that, Twilight started to feel her attack did nothing, which Shadow instantly picked up on.

"Don't feel like you're efforts were in vain, Twilight. You were able to give us this moment to catch a breather and regroup." He told her, returning her some of her confidence to her. Shadow let go of her once she got her strength back. "Listen, these clones aren't going to stop coming. And we aren't going to be able to defeat them, since they can keep rebuilding themselves-"

"Wow. What a motivational speech, Shads." Sonic stated sarcastically, prompting a look from Shadow.

"Regardless, what I'm getting at is that we just need to hold off these bots for as long as possible, until Soler can beat Neo. He's already in the process of doing so as we speak, so we're going to hold this line together and put our faith in Soler. So take this break and recharge while you can, since those bots will be back soon." Shadow finished. All nodded.

"Wow Shadow, I see you're getting better at the whole motivational speech thing. Impressive." Sonic commented.

"And you can still joke in a dire time, faker." Shadow retorted. Sonic simply smirked.

"It's my specialty." He responded. The two looked over the battlefield, and grew silent upon seeing the incoming bots. The only sounds came from the moving bots and the rain.

"Do you think we'll all make it?" Sonic asked, a sudden solemness in his tone.

"I don't know yet. I know we have a better chance of getting out of this alive, but I don't know about the girls. They've never been through a battle like this. It's likely that someone won't make." He said bluntly. The two never looked each other in the eyes, already knowing what the other thought and felt.

"Well. It seems we're just going to have to be quicker on our feet this time to back up the ladies whenever they need our help. Because I don't know about you, but I couldn't live with myself if any of these girls died on my watch. Especially Rainbow, and I know you feel the same way I do. Especially towards Twilight." He teased. Shadow's expression never changed.

"You're right. I won't let any harm to come towards those girls, especially Twilight." He said with certainty. That took Sonic by surprise.

"Woah. Never thought I'd see the day. Actually caring for someone other than yourself? What happened to the faker I know and hate?" Sonic joked. Shadow cracked a smile for once.

"Time can change a hedgehog. I should say the same to you, since when could you be serious?" Sonic actually laughed at that one.

"Who knows? But right now, all I know is that Soler needs to hurry up with Neo." He said. Shadow nodded in accord as they stared at the oncoming battle, the silence returning.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler & Neo)**_

The dust settled around the new crater formed by the blast that dented the ground around them. Soler unshielded his face to try and spot Neo. It was obvious Soler had taken a lot of damage since his body was covered in scrapes and bruises, his breathing heavy with fatigue.

 _Where is he?_ He wondered. Once all of the dust had settled, he could see Neo standing in the same spot, undamaged. _Dammit! This fight is going to go on forever if I don't find some way to shut off those nanites. I'll never win._

"So, are you ready to continue?" Neo asked. Soler grinned and straighten himself.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" He shouted, entering a spin ball charging right at him. Neo was ready for it, but right before Soler was upon him, he vanished. Taken by surprise, Neo started searching for him. Soler charged him from behind, then disappeared again. He appeared, struck him from the side before disappearing once more. Soler started to appear and disappear around Neo, hitting him with a barrage of attacks from all over. His series of attacks overwhelmed Neo, as he seemed unable to counter him.

Soler went in for one last attack, headed for Neo's face, but Neo recovered and grabbed him in his spinball. He then slammed Soler into the ground where, in his spinball, he dug into the ground until he was lying face-first in the dirt. Neo gripped his head and then started bashing his face into the ground. Before Soler might pass out from the head trauma, he teleported out of his grasp. He appeared behind him, but Neo grabbed his leg and threw him away. Soler landed on the ground with a thud. It took him a bit to get back up, shakily. Neo stood in the same place, his wounds being instantly repaired again.

 _Those nanites!_ Soler sulked before realization struck, _Wait! Nanites aren't individually controlled, they're too small for that. They have something that gives them instructions, like a hive-mind mentality. And if that's right, then that means I have to shut off the central controlling nanite Neo has within him. Easier said than done._ Neo stared at him, somewhat unimpressed.

"This fight is getting boring, hedgehog. I expected more." He said. Soler chuckled.

"Yeah? Well I'm not finished yet!" He declared, creating a Chaos Spear. The droplets hitting the energy of the Spear produced a crackling hiss. Looking down the Spear, Soler's eyes widened with an idea. He dissipated the Spear, much to Neo's surprise. Soler then charged at him, entering close combat with Neo. He tried to strike him, but Neo kept dodging with ease. Soler tried to land a flip kick, but Neo jumped into the air to dodge, exactly what Soler wanted. Faster than Neo could react, Soler hopped right up to Neo and placed his hand on his head. Soler briefly focused some Energy, as if forming a Spear, and pulsed the Energy through Neo. The pulsed caused Neo to glitch briefly, but he recovered and grabbed Soler by his throat and slammed him to the ground.

"What did you do?" He roared at the white hedgehog, whose bore a smug countenance.

"Now we're even." Soler said. Neo's eyes widened.

"Computer, what's the status on the central nanite?" Neo called.

 _Processing… Central nanite 20% functional. Control over other clones active, nanite replication process inactive…_ It finished. Neo looked at Soler with rage in his eyes. Soler's smugness further enraged him.

"What's wrong? No more nanite control? Hehe, well welcome to the mortal life." He joked. An infuriated Neo slammed him into the ground twice before throwing him. Soler was able to recover and landed on his feet, but Neo was right back on him. Soler was faced with powerful punches and kicks that lacked technique. Soler tried to counter them, but he was too injured, and was forced to block, which didn't last long to Neo's barrage.

"You irritating, annoying, waste of flesh! You've been a pain ever since that day on that island where I should've killed you!" Neo vented as he continued to hit Soler, "Shadow should've killed you, but I miscalculated. For him to have a change of heart, and for that blue rat to interfere with your battle! You've only kept coming back to get revenge for that girl, and I still wanted your power, so I used your anger, your hatred of me, to draw out your dark side! But now, you've even found a way to quell the temper of that too! Now you and your friends fight back, and are pushing me back! Why won't you just give up and die?" Soler caught his swing and glared at him.

"Why… Why won't I give up? You! You're the reason I won't give up." Soler screamed, landing a solid punch in the start of his own offensive of strong punches, "My life was perfect before you showed up that day and took the love of my life from me! Then, you forced me to leave to find Shadow, who I wanted dead! But thanks to Sonic, who stopped him from killing me, and turned our attentions towards you… The real enemy! And from our first fight, I realized just how superior you were to me, so I had to get stronger… I had to get stronger because of you! Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the other Freedom Fighters helped me get stronger, which also shaped me into who I am today. Just so that when I had to face you, I'd be ready. When we met again, I thought I was ready, but you used my anger against me to turn me dark, which then became my next task to deal with. I had to control my emotions around you, or else I'd risk hurting those around me! All because of you, Neo! I come here and you still try to torture me by going and hurting Luna, who I've come to love. So this fight… This thrashing… Is all because of you!" Soler slugged Neo hard, knocking him to the ground. Soler stood over him, all the words and feeling that had been pent up inside of him all coming to the surface.

"But you know even though I hate you with everything I have, part of me didn't want to fully destroy you. I thought that if I shut off your nanites, you'd want to retreat for another day. But from this, I know that this really will be both our final fights." A tear rolled down the side of his face, "Which sucks because I hate breaking my promises. But I know you won't stop until I'm dead, and I won't stop until you're dead. And we both hate losing, so no matter what, we'll both keep standing back up, so we'll both die here today, Neo!" He proclaimed. Neo grimaced, then kicked him away and stood back up.

"There goes that annoying sense of justice you have! I won't be dying here today. Only you will… Soler!" He shouted and rushing at him.

"Neo!" Soler yelled, launching himself at the robot. The two clashed and wailed on each other. Soler punched Neo in the face, and Neo retaliated by kneeing him in the stomach, causing him to spit up blood. Soler headbutted him, causing sparks to fly. The two fought with just the goal of ending the other for a while, while blood and sparks flew every so often. The two broke off and jumped away from each other, now shakily standing. Soler breathed heavily, and Neo didn't look much better than he did, unable to heal himself.

 _I need to end this._ Soler thought, looking down his hands with a crazy idea in mind. He closed his fists and started pour his last bit of Energy into both of them. Not enough, he had to use the Emerald's Energy as well. Neo saw that Soler's hands were starting to glow.

"Computer, analyze Soler."

 _Analyzing… Subject is pouring Chaos Energy into his fists, gaining more energy at a constant rate. The amount of power is currently equal to that of a fully charged Chaos Blast, as it is steadily rising._ The computer said.

"Hmm. Seems like he's ready to end things, but with energy like that rising, if he doesn't make contact with anything then the energy will backfire on him." Neo said to himself. Soler charged at Neo, who readily dodged his attacks, knowing that Soler desperately needed to get a hit on him. Energy was continuously being poured into his hands, and he knew he couldn't unfist his hands, else he'd be done for. Neo was on point until he tripped on a rock and Soler was able to punch his side. When his fist made contact, a huge explosion of Energy pushed the two far from each other. Soler struggled to a standing position, his other fist still tight. He looked down his left arm, which dangled almost lifelessly. He tried to move it, but only his fingers twitched.

"Damn, my nerves are shot." He noted, looking in Neo's direction. He saw Neo standing back up slowly, a huge chunk of his left side missing, as well part of his arm. Sparks were everywhere, but he was mostly in one piece. Soler didn't wait and charged right back in to deal the finishing blow, his fist steadily growing brighter with rising Chaos Energy. Neo was ready to try and dodge it, but realized that he wouldn't be able to fully dodge him. When Soler was upon him, Neo swung his good arm and the fists collided. When the two fists clashed, a bright light shined brightly from the contact point, quickly engulfing both of them.

 _ **(P.O.V. Celestia, Canterlot)**_

Celestia quickly ran behind the nurse through the hospital hallways. The two entered the room where other doctors looked over Luna, who was moving around while she slept, a pained expression on her face.

"How long has this been happening?" Celestia asked as she got beside her sister.

"It started happening but a little while ago, Princess. Everything was fine. She was sleeping soundly, vitals normal, but then they started to spike wildly out of nowhere, and she began to move around, which is when we decided we needed to call you." One of the doctors explained. Celestia worriedly gazed at her sister.

"Was anyone with her before this started?"

"Yes. Soler the Hedgehog was, ma'am." A guard said, standing outside the door.

 _Soler was here with her and everything was fine, but he left and now she's acting like this. I wonder if…_ She thought, stopping when everything seemed too quiet, even Luna stopped moving. She discerned everyone looking out the window and when she did, Celestia saw that there was a bright light coming from the direction of Ponyville. The light dwindled, and then there was a brief rumbling as the entire building shook, snapping everyone out of their gazes. Luna's heart monitor started beeping wildly as the doctors examined her.

"Her heart beat has sped up rapidly!" One said to the others as Luna moved wildly, now her face sweating and full of pain. Celestia didn't know what to do, so all she could do was watch in tears. When it seemed like she was going to start thrashing, she stilled and her eyes shot open as she screamed.

"SOLER!"

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Ponyville Battle)**_

"Come on, guys! We gotta hold out!" Sonic shouted. The group had now been pushed back quite a bit since the battle had started again, and they were all growing exhausted. Now Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles stood at the front line, the bots overwhelming them despite their efforts. Twilight and Rarity provided cover fire with stung horns from the overuse of magic, which slowed down their attacks. AJ and Rainbow had fallen back with Pinkie, unable to keep up with the pace of the bots, now taking down the increasingly growing number of bots that came near them. The grounded Tails and Fluttershy did the best they could to support the others.

The hopelessness in their fight began setting in. Sonic looked back at his friends and could see their exhaustion, and how badly this could end if something didn't happen… And soon. Caught off beat, a bot punched Sonic in the face, knocking him to the ground. Just when it looked like the group was done for, silence took over, pausing time itself. The group looked over to a massive bright light that appeared to come from where Soler and Neo fought. Then, just as fast as the light came, it died away, and it started raining. A sudden explosion, sounding like a massive cannon, filled the air. The team jumped in surprise. Shadow knew what was to come.

"Everyone! Get around Twilight and Rarity. Girls, put up the strongest bubble shield you can, and hold on tight." He ordered. Everyone quickly did as he said, and a massive shockwave cracked the bubble shield as soon as it touched the ground. The shockwave was strong enough to send a few bots flying, even ripping up some trees. Thinking that it had ended, Twilight was going to release the bubble, but Shadow stopped her.

"It's not over yet." Another shockwave came as he spoke, going towards where the first shockwave originated, sending more bots flying. Once this one was over, Twilight released the bubble, and the group looked over the battlefield. Bots were scattered everywhere, the once flowery field now almost completely lifeless, only the occasional patches of grass showing life in the dirt field. The strange thing was that the bots weren't getting back up, and the rain had stopped pouring, now a light drizzle. Upon realizing that the bots weren't getting back up, they all collapsed, panting heavily, glad the fighting was over.

"Is everyone alive?" Sonic asked through his gasps. He smirked at the collection of groans and garbled responses he heard. "Good to hear." He looked over at Shadow, who was on a knee, looking no better than he was.

"So Shadow, what do you think happened?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know, but I do know it was because of Soler and Neo's fight. Which means we need to get over there." He replied as he struggled back up. Sonic knew he was right, and slowly stood back up too. Everyone else saw them stand and followed their example. With whatever strength they had left, all ran over to Soler's battle.

 _ **(P.O.V. none, Soler & Neo's battle)**_

The group arrived to the scene, and were shocked to see the size of the crater that the two had created, the size of a small lake. Soler and Neo lied on their backs in the center of it, appearing to have been through hell and back.

Soler slowly opened his eyes, bringing him more pain than he thought it would.

 _I… Can… Barely feel… My body…_ He thought. His vision wasn't completely blurry, so he was able to see some figures standing on a ridge of the crater his attack formed.

 _Hey, those look like my friends…_ He picked his body up slowly, pain shooting all through him. He looked over to Neo, his arm missing, chunks of his body missing, totally trashed. _Wait, so I lived? Looks like I didn't break my promise after all…_ He noticed the Emerald he held.

 _Wow. Looks like he beat the Emerald right out of me…_ He attempted to laugh at his lame joke, but it hurt to breathe, laughing was out the question. He slowly turned on his stomach and tried to get up.

 _Nanite recall activated…_ The downed clones that laid scattered across the field all started breaking down into small nanites, and flew back to Neo. As Soler tried to get up, he didn't notice the nanites all rejoining Neo, or hear his friends cries for him to move. Then he felt something go through his torso. He looked down at a Chaos Spear poking out of his chest, his blood dripping from the tip. It disappeared, and he fell onto his stomach, blood slowly pooling beneath him. His friends watched in disbelief, some of the girls crying, others looking away from the sight. Sonic was stunned to speechlessness, watching as Neo stood again. This time, recovering with the returning nanites. Neo laughed at Soler as he extended his reformed arm to pick up his Emerald.

"I told you hedgehog. Only you were dying today." He stated, proceeding to laugh viciously. He stopped when he felt something strange happen.

 _I'm taking in more nanites than when this battle first started_ , he noticed, his shape and form changing. He started growing claws, wings, and a tail as he grew from the excess of nanites. Sonic looked at him in shock.

"I never thought I'd ever see that thing again." Tails said.

"Yeah. It took everything we had to beat it the last time we saw it." Knuckles added.

"Damn, he's turned into-"

"Metal Overlord." Sonic said, almost in a whisper. Neo had become a huge mechanical dragon, and heavily spiked. The blue, purple, and silver monster's two arms had a flamethrower in the right, and claws on the left. The sharp-winged lower body bore a great many black cables. His great tail, appeared to be particularly deadly, added to the menacing appearance, as did the vertically-aligned line-like eyes. This monster clearly did not need legs to kill.

Metal Overlord screeched as it flew over everyone, powered by four Emeralds.

"Yes! Now with this body, and these Emeralds, I will destroy everything!" He roared. The group watched hopelessly as the feeling of the end crept into their hearts and souls.

 _Man. So this is what dying feels like. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would._ Soler contemplated, before hearing Neo's screech. He could barely see the dread his friends held.

 _I gotta stop Neo… But I'm going to die… Wait, I still have that skill… But if I use that too long, I'll… Oh. Whelp, I'm dead either way… Might as well take him with me…_ Soler's heartbeat slowed, and his breathing grew harsh. With the last of his strength, he shouted.

"Chaos… Synergy!" As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes shot open as he gasped for air. Then, his body unleashed a mass pulse of Chaos Energy, turning into a bright fusion of white and cyan-colored Energy. Even his pupils vanished as his eyes blazed with Energy and his wounds rapidly healed. Everyone turned their attention to him, gazing at him in awe.

"What the hay is that?" Rainbow asked.

"I think it's Soler, but he's giving off a lot of Energy." Twilight said in shock.

 _I've only felt this much power when the Princesses gave me their magic!_ She thought.

"Soler, no! You know what will happen if you stay in that form for too long!" Sonic shouted at him. Soler just looked at him and his friends.

" _Hey guys, look! I'm not dead yet! Hehe, but Sonic, I know what will happen, but there's no other option left to stop him."_ He replied in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

"What is he talking about? What will happen to him?" Rarity asked.

"He'll… He'll-"

" _I'll die, Rarity. So the way I see it is that if I'm already going to die, I want to die protecting my friends, and taking Neo with me."_ Soler said, floating up to eye level with Metal Overlord.

"Soler! You should be dead!" It screeched at him.

" _Sorry to disappoint, but like I said earlier, we're both dying here today._ " He pledged, pointing at him. Neo only roared at him, and flew up above the clouds. Soler looked up to him, then back to his friends,

" _Hey, do you think you guys can tell Luna I'm sorry that I couldn't keep our promise?_ " He requested, flying up to Neo before they could answer. The group watched the skies as flashes of explosions made shadows in the cloud, detailing a fierce battle. Every once in a flash, they would hear Neo screech in pain, or in rage. The battle went on for minutes, neither one quite able to take advantage of the other. After one big flash, everything went still, even the rain had stopped completely. They watched in suspense, waiting to see who the victor was. Almost on cue, something fell down. It was Neo, in his normal form, glowing green. Then Soler followed right after him, still cloaked in white, though it didn't shine as brightly as it did at first. There was only an aura around him, his eyes and quill now visible in detail once again. The two combatants stopped in the middle of the sky, both facing each other.

"Why won't you die!" Neo shouted. Soler didn't say anything back, only looking at him. This enraged Neo as they charged each other. The two flew all over the place, clashing in randomly, fast enough that the group couldn't see them at times. They separated, and Neo unleashed a massive barrage of Chaos Spears towards Soler. Soler created two Spheres in his hands, then let them go as they floated around him. He made a motion with his hands at the Spears, and both Spheres burst into a massive Chaos Swarm, double the size of his first one, at the Spears. The two attacks collided, equal in power and strength. Soler remembered his battle with Shadow, and made a splitting motion with his hands as the swarm split apart and headed for a ready Neo. Once the Swarm got close to him, he unleashed a Chaos Blast that pushed them all away. Soler stopped Neo's attack with the last of his Swarm. Soler looked down at his hands, and realized that he could distinguish his gloves again.

 _Damn. I'm running out of time. I need to finish this now._ He thought.

"Neo! It's time to finish this fight! One last shot, all or nothing!" He shouted.

"I couldn't agree more!" Neo responded, without showing how he was running low on power. At 10% power, he had tapped almost all of the Emeralds' power. Neo put his hands together and started charging his last attack. Without much time, released a massive Chaos Spear straight for Soler. Soler closed his eyes and put his hand up. Then, he focused his Energy to release a white beam of energy. The two attacks collided in a standstill, both Soler and Neo tried to overpower the other… But soon, Soler's attack started to lose ground. He gritted his teeth as Neo pushed him back. Neo saw victory, and pushed his attack further.

 _Dammit, he's pushing me back! Gotta use everything I have left!_ Soler thought, before he raised his other hand and focused his attack even more, pouring more energy into the blast. This bigger, stronger, new power overwhelmed Neo, his attack being consumed by Soler's attack. He desperately tried to draw more power, but it was already drained, leaving him nothing for him to do as the attack reached him. Blinded, he put his hands up to block it, but he saw his hands disintegrated right before him, coming apart right down to the last nanite.

"No… No, no, no, nooo!" He screamed as he fell apart. To nothingness.

"Goodbye Neo." Soler said as his attack wiped away the last traces of Neo. The group watching the fight had to close their eyes from the attack's brightness. Once the attack has dissipated, they opened their eyes to a gone Neo, and Soler floating in the air, his white aura slowly fading. The four Emeralds Neo had in his possession all fell into the crater, dead and lifeless. Soler floated down and picked them all up. He then flew over to his friends and placed them in front of them. They were all speechless, his power was palpable when he stood so close to them. He didn't say anything, he simply smiled. Then he glanced around at the damage he and Neo did to the area, lifeless. He looked down at his hands, and saw that there was still some time left on his Chaos Synergy.

"Ya know, Chaos Energy can bring life and death." He started, looking back at his friends, "Let's bring some life back into this place." He placed his hand at the edge of the crater. He pulsed the last of his white aura into the ground. The ground began to rumble, and then water spouted out from the middle of the crater. It gushed out so fast that it soon filled the crater and turned it into a lake. Next, grass started to grow around the entire area, all the way to the outside of Ponyville, covering the scars of the battle. Flowers poked up from the grass, dotting the area again. Trees that had almost perished soon regained their colors. The entire field was restored to life, the miracle amazing everyone as they gaped at what was taking place.

 _So this is the power of Chaos Energy?_ Twilight pondered. Everything stilled, showing it had ended, and everyone looked back to Soler, who had completely lost his white aura. He stood and smiled at them, weakly.

"Now, you guys got a lake…" He collapsed before finishing his sentence. Everyone rushed to his aid as soon as he hit the ground. They turned him on his back and Shadow placed an ear to his chest.

"His heartbeat is declining." He said, sending chills of panic into their hearts. Shadow started to perform CPR on him to keep him breathing.

Soler's vision blurred, the pained faces his friends all had was his last sight.

 _Sorry, Luna._ He thought as his vision went black. He could smell the flowers, could feel the grass under him. _I really wish I had something good to eat._

"He's not breathing!" He didn't know who had said the last thing he heard.

 _Chapter 29 is a wrap. One more to go. This is Solerwolf… Out._


	30. Chapter 30

_The end is just a new beginning…_

 _ **Beginnings**_

 _ **(?)**_

"Man, why is it so dark? Wait, my eyes are closed." Soler said aloud. He opened his eyes and instantly squinted them. It looked like he was in a white void, nothing around him except white. He wouldn't even know if he was standing on something if it weren't for the feeling beneath his feet. "Wonder where I am?"

"The last thing I remember is beating Neo, then I…" He stopped, remembering what happened, "I died." He took a look around him and saw nothing except white.

"Man, the other side is, uhh, white? I wonder how the others are handling everything?" He asked no one in particular. The thought of all their faces at his death… Especially the Princess, saddened him. He sighed. "Well, at least I stopped Neo and everyone is safe. Now I really hope that this isn't all that the afterlife has for me."

 _Soler…_ He heard a whisper. His ears perked, straining to hear more.

"Hello?" He called out.

 _Soler…_ He heard it again. This time, he turned around, discovering a door on the far side of the room.

"Strange, that door wasn't there before." He stated.

 _Soler… Here…_ He heard the whisper, coming from the door's direction.

"Whelp, might as well investigate" He said, quickly jogging over to the doo, plain and wooden. However, it held a sort of presence that beckoned him to the other side of that door. He looked behind the door, where there was nothing but the white void. "Strange, yet cool." He touched the handle and jiggled it. He opened the unlocked door, and was surprised to see a hill with a big tree resting on top of it, a meadow running around it. The moon and stars shined brightly in the nighttime of the space. Stunned as he walked through the door, the place felt very familiar to him. The door shut behind him, and he whirled to a non-existent door.

"Well, there goes the exit, I guess." He noted aloud.

"Well, why would you want to leave?" A female voice giggled. His eyes widened at the voice, beginning to shake.

"Wait. That voice. It can't be…" He stuttered, turning around slowly. Before him stood a silver-quilled hedgehog in a purple dress that stopped at her waist, covered with a silver belt. She had on spat under her dress, and wore black knee-high socks alongside purple, white-laced shoes. She also wore a white tee under her dress. Her front two quills went down past her shoulders, her back quills flowing down her back. Blue-highlighted bangs hung over one eye, drawing looks to her purple eyes. She smiled at him as her silver, crescent moon necklace shined in the moonlight.

"Well, it is me, love." She said sweetly. Soler stared at her, speechless.

"L… L… Luna…" He stammered in a hushed voice. Luna smiled at him brightly, tears forming in her eyes.

"That's my name." She replied with a shaky voice. He walked up to her, his eyes still wide, and gently cupped her cheek, trembling. She placed her hands on top of his, and Soler lost it. He grabbed her hands and fell to his knees, crying uncontrollably.

"Luna, I'm… I'm…" He couldn't even make out the words. Seeing him cry dragged tears down her face as she got down and held him close to her, letting him cry to his heart's content.

"I know, I don't blame you." She said. For the second time in his life, Soler cried. The first was at seeing her die, and then there was that moment. But his tears had been long overdue, all the pain and struggles he'd gone manifested themselves in the tears he cried. Luna smiled as she stroked his head, letting him cry for as long he needed. The night wind rushed past the couple as the moon and stars shined brightly. Soon, Soler's sobbing stopped as the last of his tears fell. He gently got out of her hold and looked her in the eyes.

"Better?" She asked. Soler didn't say anything as he moved forward and pressed his lips into hers, a long awaited kiss. Luna didn't fight it, melting into their passionate kiss as Soler wrapped his arms around her to close the gap between them. The kiss lasted for a minute, but seemed like only a second when the two broke their kiss. Soler held her close to him, not wanting to ever let go again.

"I've missed you." He said.

"And I've missed you too." Luna responded. Breaking their embrace, the two stood, and Soler helped Luna up.

"Come on. We can get a better view of the night from up there." Luna said as she pointed to the hill. Soler nodded and interlocked their hands as they walked up the hill together. Once they got to the top, Soler took a seat against the tree, and Luna sat between his legs, resting on him. He wrapped his arms around her as the two looked up to the night sky. The two lovers sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying each others' company. Soler looked down at her as she watched the night sky and beamed.

 _I still can't believe she's really here with me again. If this is how I'm going to spend eternity, then I couldn't have chosen a better one._ He thought, kissing the top of her head, _But there is something that feels off._

"Why are ya so quiet, Luna? That's not like you." Soler joked. She seemed to flinch at his question, but relaxed herself.

"Oh, no reason. Just thinking." She said.

"Oh? Thinking about what?" He asked.

"Just, umm, how to say goodbye." She whispered.

"Hmm, what was that last part? I couldn't hear you."

"I said how to say goodbye." She repeated so he could hear. He tensed up.

"Say goodbye? To who?" He asked. Luna moved out of his hold and turned to look him in his eyes.

"To you, love." His eyes widened in shock. He was going to say something, but she put a finger over his lips.

"Listen, I have to say some things before it's too late." She started. He nodded and listened quietly. "Soler, I've been watching you this whole time, and I can't say I've ever been so proud of you and everything you've done. You've been a positive change in the lives of others, and that couldn't make me happier. You've made a great set of friends, and I see you've even found someone new, which you don't know how much of a relief that is to me. I honestly thought you wouldn't open your heart up to anyone again, and she's a Princess, which I guess is a plus. But you hold her close to you and you treat right, no matter what. Stay yourself and I know she'll fall for you, I mean, that's how I fell for you, right?" She paused and looked behind him and saw the scene whitening.

"Right, time. Soler, I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened to me. I know you did everything you could to stop him, so I don't blame you, ok? Always remember that. Now I'm guessing we have only a few minutes left before you go, and I know you have some things you want to say, so the floor's open."

"You're right, I have things to say. What do you mean 'before I go'? Where am I going? I just got here."

"Well, you still have things to do and people to live for, so if you wanna, call it your second chance or whatever if you want. Plus, I don't think Princess Luna will be too happy losing you before you tell each other how you feel, am I right?" He was going to say something, but stopped and looked down. "Soler the Hedgehog, don't you dare feel bad that you've found someone new." The stern tone she took was softened by how she cupped her hands around his face, making him look at her.

"I'm happy you've been able to move on and find someone, or somepony, new. Plus, you know I'll always love you, no matter what. But you have someone living who loves you too, so you gotta go back to her." She told him. The white was just upon them, the sky and meadow gone, and only the patch of grass the two stood on. "Well, I guess my time's up. I know this goes without saying, but this will be our last time seeing each other for a long time. So know that even though I'm not down there with you, I'm up here rooting you on, so fight hard and live on for me. Okay?" A tear escaped her eyes. He smirked and wiped it off.

"Yeah, I will Luna. Thanks for everything. I love you." He said as she started fade away.

"I love you too, Soler the Hedgehog." She said as she vanished completely, and everything became a blinding white. Soler closed his eyes, to blackness.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler)**_

All Soler heard was the sound of beeping, and could only see darkness.

 _Man, why is it so dark? Oh wait, got my eyes closed… Again._ He slowly opened his eyes, to white tiles and ceiling lights. He looked to left, where the beeping came from a heart monitor. There was also an assortment of flowers and such with cards attached to them. He slowly reached over and picked up the closest card. It looked like it was handmade, a glittery heart on the front. He opened it.

" _Get well soon Mr. Soler. -CMC"_ Soler grinned.

"Those girls." He said quietly. He looked out the window and could see that he was in Canterlot, in the daytime. "Welp, I've been in bed for who knows how long. Time to get up and get rollin-" He stopped mid-sentence when he tried to rise, but felt a body on his. He looked to his right and saw the Princess of the Night resting her upper body on him. He smiled sweetly and stroked her mane, surprised that it was actually hair.

 _Guess that debunked my theory that if I touched her mane, my hand would just go through it._ He pondered, before he heard hooves clopping on the floor as a nurse entered the room. She was looking at some sheets on her clipboard when she looked up to see an awake Soler. He waved at her, and she dropped the clipboard that she was levitating and ran out of the room. The clattering of the clipboard was loud enough to wake up the sleeping Princess as her darted up, looking left and right. When she calmed herself, she noticed Soler was awake and looking directly at her. Soler smiled at her.

"Hey sleepyhead. Glad to see you're awake." He joked. Luna teared up and pounced on him.

"Soler! You're okay! I was so scared you'd never wake up." She said. Soler returned the hug wholeheartedly.

"I can say the same about you Luna." Luna broke the hug and looked at him, becoming flustered.

"Soler, there's something I need to tell you. Soler, I-" He cut her off by putting a finger to her lips.

"Yeah I know. I love you too." He removed his finger and went in and kissed Luna on the lips. Her surprise lasted only a few seconds as she fell into the kiss that she'd long waited to have with him. Unbeknownst to them, a visitor had come.

"Ahem!" They heard a voice, looking over to a grinning Sonic at them. They broke the kiss and Luna blushed madly from embarrassment, while Soler to smirked at the hedgehog.

"Man, no sense of privacy, huh, blue boy?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd just wake up and already be taking Princess hearts." Sonic joked.

"Can't blame you there. So where-" A pink blur bum-rushed Soler and squeezed the life out of him before he could finish his question.

"OhmygoshSolerIcan'tbelieveyou'reawake! Iwasuperduperuperworried!" Pinkie said in one breath.

"Yeah… It's… Great… Seeing… You… Again… Too… Pinkie." He gasped. It didn't take long for the others to enter the room as well.

"Hey Pinkie, think you could let him go? It looks like he's going to pop like a balloon." Rainbow said. Pinkie released Soler, giving everyone a good laugh as he took in a huge breath of air. Luna composed herself as she quickly stood up.

"Well, I see you are well taken care of. I shall see you later, Soler." She said.

"Later, Luna." He replied, winking at her. She started blushing before she teleported away.

"I wonder why she was in such a rush?" RD asked. The others took notice of Sonic's rather smug grin.

"I'm guessing you know?" Knuckles asked. Sonic looked at Soler, who rolled his eyes.

"Go on and get it out your system, blabbermouth." Soler moaned.

"What's he talking about?" Twilight asked.

"Well, before you guys got here, since I ran ahead, I caught a certain hedgehog locking lips with our Princess of the Night." He said proudly. Everyone seemed surprised by the news, besides Shadow, whose eyes remained closed as he leaned on the wall.

"Got it out your system?" Soler asked.

"Oh yeah, very much so." Sonic replied. Immediately after, the girls came out of their daze, smiling brightly, giddy. Then, as more childlike than Soler thought possible, they all shrieked with glee, quite loudly. Their volume forced the guys to cover their ears.

"Geez, I'm guessing you guys like the news?" Soler commented after uncovering his ears. The girls calmed themselves, though their excitement remained evident.

"Sorry for the shriek, darling, but-" Rarity began.

"We've been rooting for you guys since the beginning!" Rainbow interjected. Rarity glared at her, prompting Rainbow to scratch the back of her head sheepishly.

"You guys knew the whole time? Was it that obvious?" He asked.

"Well at first, it wasn't. But after you went to the castle, you and Luna became pen pals." Fluttershy started.

"Yeah, and then we noticed that everytime you got a letter from her, you would always tune us out and focus on the letter with glee. Just like that time at the park, you were so focused on that letter, you tuned us out." Twilight added.

"Yep. Plus, it was sure obvious how ya'd get flustered speaking of her." AJ said.

"So you guys have just been silently rooting for us, huh?" They all nodded simultaneously. Soler chuckled in disbelief.

"Well then, thanks guys." He said with a smirk. Before anyone said anything else, Shadow spoke.

"So now that pleasantries are done, how are you feeling?" He asked, surprising everyone, Soler in particular.

"Oh, um, I think I'm doing well." He said. Shadow walked to the foot of his bed.

"How's your Chaos Energy?" Soler looked at his hand, and tried to form a Spear, getting only a few green sparks before his hand started to burn intensely. Even his nerves all tingled unpleasantly, which made him groan in pain and stop.

"Yeah, just like I thought. I won't be using any Chaos abilities for a good while. That Chaos Synergy did a number on me." He said. Shadow nodded while the others looked confused.

"Wait, why can't he use his Chaos powers?" Twi asked.

"Well Twi, when I fought Neo and went into my Chaos Synergy Mode, I unleashed all my Chaos Energy that was within me. With that, I gain access to powers almost on level to when I went super, except my time limit is a lot shorter if I have no Emerald. And if I run out of Energy while in that form, I die. But since I didn't die, the downside is that it hurts to use any sort of Chaos abilities for a good while." He explained.

"Yes, so I guess giving you an Emerald to heal faster is out of the question." Shadow said. Soler nodded before he looked down at his sheets, not wanting to meet Shadow's eyes.

"Hey Shadow. Look, I'm sorry for-"

"Don't worry about it." Shadow interrupted.

"But I stepped over the line with what I said. I know how much Maria meant to you, and I was-"

"Like I said, don't worry about it. You were caught up with emotions, and I wasn't helping the situation either. Plus, there was some truth in your words, I have been so caught up on Maria that I prevent others from trying to get close to me at times. And that's not what she would want. So I've changed that." He said. Soler look at him questionably.

"Changed it how?" At his question, Twilight walked up next to Shadow, who wrapped an arm around her as she leaned on him.

"Oh! Now it makes since. Well congrats to you two then." They both nodded, and Twilight smiled brightly while Shadow smirked. Soler smiled and gazed out the window. It was bright and sunny outside, all appearing normal. Soler sighed deeply.

"So I'm guessing everything is okay now, since it's so bright and sunny out. So my next question is how long have I been out?" He asked. Everyone's mood changed, and Tails stepped up this time to speak.

"Almost two weeks." This completely shocked Soler.

"Almost two weeks? I was in that bad of shape?"

"Well yeah, you were. When the battle ended, you were barely breathing. And if it wasn't for Shadow, I don't think we would've gotten you to the hospital in time." Knuckles started.

"Oh yes, but even once we got you to the hospital, it didn't look like you were going to make it." Fluttershy added.

"Yeah, you were touch and go for a while, until by some miracle you stabilized and were just asleep." Sonic said. Soler was in shock as he looked away from the group and stared at his sheets again, deep in thought.

 _Man, a whole two weeks, gone. Wait, Luna's face. It looked like she had been crying. Was she by my side the whole time I was here?_ He wondered. He shook his head to snap out of his thoughts.

"Okay, so I was out for a week or two. How's Ponyville? Is everyone okay?" All brightened a bit, smiles adorning their faces.

"Yep, everyone in Ponyville is A-OK. I mean, the only damage that was done was a bit of property damage, but even that was minimal." Sonic said.

"And thanks to you, we got a new lake near the town." Rainbow added with glee. Her statement bewildered Soler.

"I made you guys a new lake?" He inquired.

"Oh yes, darling, and I'll say, it was quite the spectacle to watch." Rarity added, but he just stared at them, mystified.

"You don't remember?" Twilight asked. He shook his head in response.

"No. All I remember is beating Neo, then blacking out. And I also remember seeing your faces before blacking out." He said. Everyone looked to Shadow for an explanation that he wasn't expecting to give.

"What?"

"Well, you got any explanations on his memory?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. Maybe using the last of his energy to do such a feat took too much out of him." He attempted.

"Well, whatever the case, it doesn't matter now." Soler said, gaining the floor again. He slowly got out of his sheets, slipped his shoes on, and proceeded to stand. He failed and hit the ground, hard. Everyone jumped to help him, but he a hand up as he slowly stood on his own, very shakily.

"Soler, you really shouldn't be up. You just woke up." Tails said.

"It's fine, Tails. I've been resting for far too long, anyway. Plus, look outside! Who wants to be cooped up in a hospital bed on a beautiful day like today?" He remarked with a smile on his face. Sonic and Shadow's smirked while the others' showed worry over Soler's condition.

"Alright then, hedgehog, if you say so." Sonic said playfully. Soler just nodded. Even though in complete agreement with him, Twilight spoke.

"Well then, if you're sure, we can't stop you. But Princess Celestia wanted to see you as soon as you were able to leave the hospital, so I'd advise you to go see her now."

"Alright then, off to see the Princess it is. You guys coming with?" They shook their heads.

"We, uh, got something to do back in Ponyville. So we'll meet you there." Rainbow said quickly.

"But I'll stay with you to help get you to the castle." Sonic said, and all left the hospital. The bigger group headed to Ponyville as Soler and Sonic went to see the Princess.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler & Sonic)**_

The two hedgehogs walked up to Celestia's castle.

 _Didn't think Soler would need this much help_ , Sonic thought while supporting Soler.

"Man, you sure sound tough in front of the others. But look at you now, wobbling all over the place." Sonic whined.

"Well excuse me for just now using my legs. It's not like I wasn't nearly dead a while ago." Soler retorted. The guards let the two in upon their arrival to the castle gates. The two walked up to the big doors that they entered when they first came to Equestria.

"These doors never change, huh?" Sonic noted.

"Yep, never change. Come on, let's go see the Princess."

"And maybe you're girlfriend." Sonic teased. Soler rolled his eyes and opened the doors.

"Or marefriend, or super special somepony." Sonic rambled. Soler looked back at him, confused.

"What? Nevermind, let's just go." He said. The two walked down the long throne room to the Princess waiting at her throne, surprised the presence of both Princesses. The two walked in front of them and bowed, Soler straining more than Sonic. Both Princesses bowed respectfully in return, though Luna gazed upon Soler with concern.

"Welcome, my little hedgehogs, as I start by saying congratulations on your victory in stopping Neo and not just saving Ponyville, but all of Equestria. We are in your debt." Celestia said, and the alicorns bowed once more. Before Soler could say anything, Sonic spoke.

"Hey Princess, what's the difference between a marefriend and a super special somepony? Because with your sister and Soler dating, I kinda want to know the difference so I can tease him better." Sonic blurted out. Soler facepalmed himself, Luna instantly blushed, and Celestia was the most surprised of all, looking to her sister for confirmation of what Sonic said. Soler slapped Sonic in the back of the head.

"Princess, please don't mind him. Thank you for your praise, and we'll gladly protect this world with our all, anyday of the week." He responded. Celestia recomposed herself, now focused on Soler.

"Oh, yes. You did a wonderful job. I've been filled in on all that happened with the battle, including you coming close to death.'' She said, ushering a chill into the room. "But you all prevailed, which is evident by your standing here before us today. We really can't thank you enough." Soler and Sonic beamed in return to Celestia's smile on her face.

"No problem." Sonic said with a thumbs up. She nodded back in response.

"It appears you've still got some recovering to do, Soler. So I shall let you two be on your way back to Ponyville. Rest up my little hedgehogs, and be well." She added, still smiling. The two bowed and Soler winked to Luna, who blushed before walking away. Before they could take a few steps away.

"Soler, wait." Luna cried out. He turned around and was ambushed with an embrace from the Princess of Night, her blush growing. "Don't strain yourself too much, okay? And visit me soon." He smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"Of course I will. And here's something for you, my Princess." He whispered in return, following with a surprise kiss reddening her entire face. Even Celestia grew flushed by the sight, despite her attempts to maintain a straight face, while Sonic merely rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Romeo. Let's get moving." He remarked. Soler broke the kiss, leaving Luna in the daze of the surprise kiss.

"Gotta finish our kiss later." He whispered, prompting a whimper from Luna. He just winked and caught up to Sonic as they departed from the castle.

 _ **(P.O.V. Soler & Sonic, Ponyville)**_

Sonic and Soler got off the train after a day's ride. Soler stretched and breathed in the Ponyville air, tinged with the underlying scent of apples from the apple farm.

"Man, it's great to be back her in Ponyville again. Wouldn't you say, Sonic?" Soler said, receiving no response. "Sonic?" He turned to see the blue hedgehog, lying on the ground, gray. Soler rolled his eyes.

"Come on, man. I thought you were fine riding the train." Sonic lifted his head up.

"I was never fine with riding the train. You're not at full strength yet, so I said we can ride the train." He replied, before slumping once more. "I hate the train." Soler smirked as he helped the subdued hedgehog up.

"Well, come on! We won't be riding the train again anytime soon, so let's get back to the castle." He prodded. Sonic instantly perked up at the sound of no more train rides.

"Yep! We should get back to the castle, so let's go." Sonic said, and the two walked back to the castle. As the two walked, the citizens of Ponyville were going about their daily routines. When the ponies noticed Soler and Sonic, many of them rushed up to the two, mostly Soler, showering praise.

"It was amazing of you to protect our town!"

"You're all such heroes to us!"

"Y'all are mighty fine alright!"

The sudden mob surprised Soler, who could only shake hooves and say thanks for the praise. Sonic watched this all happen, smiling the whole time. A few ponies came up to him, and he followed Soler's lead. After a few minutes, the hedgehogs were past the crowd and continued towards the castle.

"Man, glad to be back at castle." Sonic said as they walked up to the doors.

"Yeah, good old Crystal Castle. That still doesn't make sense to me, or science." Soler added.

"Yeah, well it doesn't have to make since, as long it gives us a place to stay." Sonic responded. Soler nodded and the two walked in. To a peculiar silence.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Soler shouted. There was no response.

"Wonder where everyone is?" Sonic questioned. The two walked in further, passing the map room. They were surprised to see Shadow standing over the map, studying it.

"Hey Shadow! How's it going?" Sonic said. Shadow glanced up from the map and turned to them.

"So you two are back. How are you feeling, Soler?" Shadow said, completely ignoring Sonic.

"Well hello to you too." Sonic mumbled. Soler chuckled at Sonic.

"I'm doing okay, I guess. Feeling a bit better actually. Still can't use my Chaos powers yet, but the soreness is slowly going away. Where is everybody?" He asked. Shadow motioned for them to follow him. The three hedgehogs strolled down to the library, the doors shut.

"They're in here." He said. Soler looked to Sonic, and both shrugged their shoulders. Soler reached for the doors and opened them, finding the room to be dark. He looked to Shadow for an explanation, but he was leaning against the wall with closed eyes. Soler walked into the dark room, and upon nearing the center of the room, lights flashed on.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled, almost giving Soler a heart attack. Everyone laughed at his expression.

"I'm so glad me almost dying is enjoyable for you guys." He complained after composing himself. He took a look around, and saw that the Mane 6 and CMC were present, as was Starlight, Spike, Knuckles, Tails, Shining Armor, Cadance, Sunburst, and one special pony.

"Flurry Heart!" He yelled excitedly. The baby alicorn squealed when she saw Soler and reached out for him. Soler sped over to the baby and lifted her from the carriage. "Oh you've gotten so big, kid. What have they been feeding you?" He tickled her belly as he teased. She giggled in his arms, bringing the biggest smile to his face.

"I remembered that you two hit it off so well the last time you were at the castle, I figured that you two would want play together again." Cadance said. Soler looked up from Flurry at her and Shining, surprised.

"Oh, hey. Didn't even know you two were here. It's great to see ya." He said. The couple deadpanned at his obliviousness, causing everyone to laugh. The small group partied on for the day, celebrating the major victory they worked hard for. Everyone enjoyed themselves, finally able to relax. Even Shadow smiled during the event, which the Mobians were surprised to see. He took notice of their stares and lost his smile.

"Only this one time." He said seriously to them and returned to the party. It was nearing noon, and the party's end, as the guests started making their exits. Soler sadly had to say goodbye to Flurry Heart again, promising he'd visit soon, as Cadance, Shining, and Sunburst left for the Crystal Empire. The girls left as well, with Knuckles heading to the farm with AJ, and Tails going back to Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow stayed the night with Sonic as they went to bed, as did Twilight and Shadow. Spike was going to clean up the party, but was too tired to start, so he went to bed as well. This left Soler and Starlight in the library, alone. Soler was glad for the party, but felt he needed to pay them back, so he cleaned up a bit before he went to bed. Starlight helped him until she had the biggest yawn.

"Ya know, Starlight, I appreciate the help, but I can handle a little cleaning on my own. You go head up to bed." Soler said. Starlight was about to resist, but another yawn came, and she just nodded sleepily.

"Okay. But don't work too hard. You just left the hospital a day ago." She said.

"Don't worry, mom. I promise." He teased, causing her to giggle.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He said, now alone. Soler stopped cleaning and took a seat in one of the chairs closest to him. There was still some soda left, so he poured himself some and took a big swig of it. He gazed around the room, lost in reflection. This was probably the first time he'd had a moment to sit and look back on everything that happened. He remembered first coming to this world and how different everything was, but also how he was kinda jealous of the happiness and peace the inhabitants lived in. He remembered running into Rainbow when he arrived and how he teased her, and how he knew she had a soft, kind heart, despite her tough act. Then, the rest of his time here replayed from getting caught by the girls, to finding Shadow, and eventually stopping Neo. But out of all those memories, the ones that stuck out the most were the ones when he was able to spend time with Luna.

 _She means so much to me_ , he thought, _And now she's my world. And I'm not planning on losing it anytime soon._ He took in a breath and exhaled slowly, feeling completely at ease.

"Woah. Why does it feel like a lot of weight just got lifted off my soul? Is this was peace feels like? Man, I think I could get used to this." He said to himself. He finished his drink and decided to head off to bed. He walked out of the library and headed to his room, finding his bed sitting there and waiting for him. It almost brought a tear to his eye, but he saved it and hopped right in, instantly regretting the resurgence of soreness and pain. "Forgot about the injuries." As it subsided, Soler kicked off his shoes and got comfy in bed, watching the moon shining in the night. He closed his eyes as his exhaustion caught up to him, and instantly fell asleep.

 _ **(?)**_

"So Neo finally fell. It was only matter time, that pile of wires was always on the hunt for more power. I knew it was going to be his end eventually." A voice said as they watched a recording of the battle between Soler and Neo.

"It seems Soler had a neat little ability under his sleeve that I never knew about, and it seems like it holds power almost to that of a super form. Quite interesting indeed, I'll have to make sure I calculate that factor into my plan." A door opened up behind the person speaking.

"Yes?"

" _Sir, we have a report._ " A mechanized voice said.

"Well don't sit there. What is it?"

" _Repairs to the engine are almost complete. The ship will be fully functional in a few more days._ " It answered.

"Most excellent. Soon, that blue rodent and his friends will finally meet their end. Make sure everything is going smoothly, and send Metal Sonic to me." He said as the bot left, closing the door. The voice pressed a button on his chair, lifting up a Chaos Emerald from a hidden compartment. Smiling wickedly, he took the Emerald in his hand. "Yes, I may only have one, but soon, I'll have the rest. So rest up while you can Sonic, for when I come, I'll be sure to have your head on my mantle this time, you rodent."

 _And that's it! Chapter 30 and Arc 1 of ATA is a wrap, guys! Man, it's been a long road we've traveled, but hey, we all traveled it together, and I couldn't be more grateful to you guys. So like I said, Arc 1 is done, only two more to go, so I'll be around for a while, don'tcha worry. I really want to know what you guys think of the ending of Arc 1. So please, any and all reviews are welcome. Like I said last chapter, I'll be posting another story soon after this one gets posted, so please check it out. And also, I'll be having a few filler chapters for this story before going into the next Arc, some will be short little ideas I have, and some could be from you guys as well, so if you want to see something happen, just tell me with a review or PM me. Anyway, thanks for reading, and this is Solerwolf… OUT!_


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey guys its me Soler! No not the hedgehog but the author sadly. Anyways I got some news for all who like this story. First, these next 10 or so chapters (after this one) will be filler chapters so not all of them will be cannon with the story. This mean anything can happen and like I said I want your story Ideas so send em in! Second, after these 10 or so chapters, I will not be continuing to update this story. Now hold on don't sharpen your pitchforks I will be continuing the story but I've decided I'm going to turn it into a trilogy with the last two arcs being their own sperate stories. Now the series will still be under the title A Transdimensional Adventure just gonna be ATA for short. and third I don't really have a third oh the new story yeah so the new story set in the EG universe will be getting posted soon, (I've already got 8 chapters ready for that story) so once I get a title the new story will be posted. So yeah I think thats it I think I have a google form set up for story ideas, idk I'll check and if I do I'll post the link. Anywho this has be Solerwolf...Out!**


	32. Chapter 32

_Trust and faith in each other can go a long way_

" _ **I Will Protect You"**_

"Ow! That hurts." Soler exclaimed.

"Well you shouldn't have gotten so beat up." Luna retorted as she patched him up. The two sat upon a hill topped off with a tree. The hill overlooked the village that they both lived in, the sun sinking in the sky.

"Well I wasn't going to let those bandits just try to come and steal from us. Not on my watch, their not." He said confidently. Luna smirked in admiration of his bravery. Soler saw her smirk as she bandaged a spot above his eye. "Plus, I'd do whatever it takes to see that cute smirk of yours. Ow!" She laughed softly.

"Hold still, Romeo, and it won't hurt so much." Luna teased as Soler smiled at the sound of her laugh, which always made him feel warm inside.

"So, how do you think you're dad is handling the damages?" He asked, taking notice of her somber change of expression.

"Hmm, well, I don't know. I know you tried to keep the damage to a minimum, but those bandits did some decent damage to some of the houses. Heck, if you hadn't gotten back to the village when you did, it could've been much worse." She admitted. Soler sighed in response.

"Yeah. I should've gotten back here sooner, and maybe then there would've been no damages at all." He muttered defeatedly. Luna heard his change of tone and stopped what she was doing. She looked him straight in his eyes, her hands cupping the sides of his face.

"Soler, look at me." She ordered. When Soler met her gaze, his despair became apparent.

"Don't get down because you couldn't stop them from damaging a few houses. I mean, at least there were no casualties. And everyone is safe, that's all that matters." She cooed to him in reassurance.

"But if I was faster, then-"

"No buts. We can always replace some building, but we can't replace a life. So don't feel down, you came in and saved the village like the hero you are, the hero I love." She interjected. Then, she proceeded to press her lips into his for a quick, heartfelt kiss. "So don't get down on being a little late, we're all alive, and that's all that matters." Soler looked into her purple eyes, which filled him with confidence again, as did her smile.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Luna." He replied. Her smiled sweetened as she let go of his face.

"No problem. Now turn around and let me see you're back. Gotta check to see if there's any damage there." She told him.

"Luna, I'm pretty sure that there's no damage on my back." He stated matter-of-factly. She countered with a smug look.

"Oh, really? Are you positive about that?"

"Yes, I am."

"You sure you're positive?"

"Positive." He said smugly. She looked at him for another moment, leaned in close to him again, making him blush this time. "What?" Luna said nothing, instead getting closer and closer. He didn't move as she approached, and their noses were eventually touching. She slowly started to close her eyes and opened her mouth a little. Soler took the cue and did the same. Their lips were just centimeters apart, and right before they met, Soler's eyes shot open as he yelled in pain from a smack.

"Owwww! Why did you slap my back like that?" He whined. Luna didn't hear him because of her laughter. He glared at her as he rubbed his back, when he touched a certain point and winced in pain. She stifled her laughing, wiping a tear from her eye.

"See? I told you. You got hurt on your back, now let me help." She said. Soler sighed and showed his back to her. She sat down and got to work patching him up. She worked quietly, a mere bruise to deal with. Soler watched the sun go down as the moon slowly started to rise.

"Hey, doesn't this remind you of something?" He asked her.

"Hmm, and what would that be?" She asked as she worked.

"Well, us on this hill, you patching me up, and the moon rising. It reminds me of the first time I protected the village. You know, after you guys took me in." He answered, generating a flood of memories for her. This hedgehog, who was a total stranger to them, that they had saved returned the favor and protected the village from a gang that had been ransacking the place.

"Yeah, I remember it now. You really saved the day." She acknowledged.

"Yeah, I guess you can say I did. But man, I was in a lot worse shape than this." He joked. Luna remembered patching him up like this, but he had a lot more bandages on him. She remembered that he had protected her from one of the gang members, taking a slash to the back to protect her. She gently rubbed the spot where he took the machete. For her.

"Yeah. You were." She said quietly.

"Yeah. I mean, I gotta admit, I was scared, but I had to protect you guys, ya know, and-" He stopped his talking when he heard sniffling behind him. He turned around and saw Luna looking down, in tears. "Luna, what's wrong?"

"You were in such bad shape when that happened, and I was so worried." She responded.

"Luna." He said, bringing her in and holding her close as she cried softly.

"It's going to be okay. That was a long time ago." He assured her as he gently stroked her quills. She sniffled,

"I know it was a long time ago, but what's not to say that someone or something else comes that even you can't stop?" She said as more tears started to swell up. "I already get scared whenever these bandits come and you have to go stop them, but I just have a feeling that something else is going to come and… And…" Luna broke down. Soler had never seen her like that, totally shaken up. He guessed that she might be able to sense something with her Chaos abilities, but he didn't know much except what she'd taught him. He didn't care though, because she was sitting in his arms, scared. And it broke his very being to see his love like this.

"Luna…" He whispered. She looked up at him watery-eyed. Soler put his hand under her chin. He brought her close to him to give her a passionate kiss. The kiss lasted a few moments, but it felt like forever to them. Soler broke the kiss and looked her in the eyes.

"Luna, I know the future can be frightening. And I know that there will always be someone or thing out there that might want to harm us. But like you said to me earlier, as long as you guys are alive and with me, I'll always protect you. You guys are what make me want to get stronger, so that none of you will get hurt. So please don't cry, I'll always be here to protect you, okay?" He promised her as he wiped a tear from her face. She looked into his unwavering eyes, a signature to stick to his word. She smiled a bit while looking at him.

"Okay, Soler, I believe you." She said. He smiled and held her close. She closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his soothing heartbeat. "I love you, Soler." He grinned and kissed her head gently.

"And I love you, Luna." He replied as he closed his eyes, also enjoying the moment.

Soler opened his eyes to a brightly shining sun. He took a look around himself, and realized that he was in a bed, and the room reminded him of the night. He sat up in the bed and looked out the window.

"So it was just a memory, huh?" He murmured to himself as a tear rolled down his face. The doors to the room opened up, and in walked Princess Luna.

"Oh! I see you're finally up. You looked like you were sleeping so soundly that I didn't want to wake you." She said to him with a smile. Soler stared at her for a second. Then he smiled in return as he wiped the tear away.

"Oh. Well thanks, I needed a good rest." He responded.

"Well I'm glad. Now will you join me for some breakfast then, Soler?" She asked. He got out of bed and put his shoes on.

"Yeah. Let's go." He said, and the two left the room.

 _I don't know about you guys, but this was in my head for the longest time. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Anywho, this has been Solerwolf… OUT!_

 _P.S. This is from my one-off tales but I need to post a filler chapter so I'm gonna post this one for a start. More to come soon :)_


	33. Chapter 33

_Some random occurrences with a certain hedgehog._

 _ **Soler Tales**_

 _*_ _ **Day Terrors**_ _*_

It's another brilliant afternoon in Ponyville. Instead of enjoying the weather, Soler, Shadow, and Twilight are in the castle library, peacefully reading some books. Well, Shadow and Twilight were, the couple was cuddling, reading peacefully. Meanwhile, Soler was unconscious beside them, his head on the table, drooling just a bit. The trio had been relaxing and reading for only about an hour before Soler fell asleep. Twilight had to make sure she got the book from under him before he drooled on it and ruined it. The couple saw how calmly he slept, and didn't want to ruin the mood, so they just left him there while they enjoyed their time together.

As they relished in their silence, they didn't notice Soler faintly squirming in his sleep. The little movements went unnoticed, even as his face scrunched up, a scowl growing with an upsetting dream. Soler's eyes shot open and he stood up quickly, surprising the two. He stood there with a dazed and perplexed look on his face. Before either one of them could say anything, he instantly turned to Shadow and glared daggers at him.

"You immortal jerk!" He shouted out of nowhere, slugging Shadow out of his seat. Twilight was confused, shocked, and lost at the same time. Soler continued glaring at Shadow, and then his face softened as he began to look around confused. "Where am I again? Hmm… My brain feels kinda fuzzy for some reason." Then he noticed Twilight.

"Oh. Hey Twi, I think I had a rough dream or something, because I can't remember anything right now. Hey, where's Shadow?" He asked. She sat mutely, her mouth agape as she stared at Shadow. Soler followed her eyes and saw the black hedgehog on the ground. "Shadow, what happened man?" Soler got closer to him.

"Man, looks like you got hit in the face or something. Here, let me help you-" He was interrupted by Shadow throwing a hard punch to the face as he attempted to help him up. Soler yelped as he held his nose and stepped back.

"Ya know, for some reason, I think I deserve this. I'm, uh, just gonna leave now, don't want to, uh, get hit again. I'll talk to you guys later." He said, awkwardly leaving the room. It was quiet for some time before Shadow sat himself up and Twilight found her voice.

"W-What just happened?" She asked while trying to help him back up.

"For once, I don't know." He said, now able to sit back in his chair.

"Well, he got you pretty good there, your nose is bleeding a bit. Hold on, let me grab a medkit." She said and went to go fetch one. Shadow wiped a finger under his nose and saw a bit of blood on his glove. A single thought passed through his head.

 _I'm gonna kill that hedgehog._

 _*_ _ **A Thoughtful Jog**_ _*_

It was quiet in Ponyville, with little going on. Children played, adults worked, and some enjoyed the day. All of a sudden, a slight rumbling could be felt, but none of the ponies panicked. Knowing what it was, some moved to the sides of the roads in preparation. Just as they made way, two blurs ran through the town. Sonic and Soler were on another one of their runs. The two speedsters were neck and neck as they charged through the town. This wasn't a race between the two, just a "jog," in their words. The two loved how the wind coursed through the quills as they ran in their free time. The two turned another corner.

"So Sonic, you sure it's cool that we're able to just jog like this? I mean, I don't wanna steal you away from your girl." Soler said.

"Yeah, it's fine man. She has to do some work today anyway, so my schedule is clear. Plus, come on man, you know I'll always have time for you, man. I mean, I can't let you pass me up, now can I?" Sonic joked. Soler just smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, that is true. I wouldn't like it if beating you is too easy."

"Yeah, that day will never come." Sonic boasted. Then, a thought popped into Soler's head.

"Hey Sonic, you ever wonder how it is that we can run this fast without running into anything?" He asked. Sonic gave him a puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that we're running at above average speeds in a little town and we seem to not run into anything, ya know?" He questioned. Sonic was going to respond, but noticed a sign coming up.

"Uh, Soler." He started.

"I mean, us just having fast reflexes can't be enough. I mean, running at our speeds and not run into things, reflexes can't be enough."

"Soler, you should really-"

"I mean, if we had some sort of omnidirectional senses or something that keeps us always knowing what's is in our general vicinity and we just react to what's coming up, then it could make more sense." He said.

"Soler!" Sonic shouted.

"I mean, come on. If we had that, then we might as well have spider-" He was cut short when he ran straight into a sign, with a hard thud. Sonic stopped right by him and just sighed.

"I tried to warn you." He said. Soler just lied on the ground in pain, a revelation in mind.

"Welp, I guess that was enough fourth wall breaking for a day. And it's just really good reflexes." He noted, mostly for himself.

 _*_ _ **Portal Problems**_ _*_

Soler was laying around the castle, bored out of his mind. All of his friends were doing something with their significant other, and Luna is most likely asleep in the middle of the day. So he was stuck at the castle by himself, with nothing to do.

"Wait, maybe Spike or Starlight–" He stopped mid-statement with realization, "Nah. Starlight is with Trixie, and Spike is helping Rarity." Defeated, Soler had grown so bored he decided to explore the castle. He walked through the halls he'd been through plenty of times before in search of something intriguing.

 _It's funny, I've been here a good while now, but I've never really explored the castle_ , he thought to himself. He went to the upper parts, to no avail, and went down to the lower parts where he still found nothing truly interesting. Well, the lower chambers had a lab in it.

"Hmm, wonder what she needs a lab for. To study the power of friendship?" He said aloud. The hedgehog laughed at the thought of studying friendship as he left the lab. Back on the main floor, he was still bored. He went into the library, unsure of where else to go. He slumped down in a seat looking at a clock, realising his explorations lasted only thirty minutes. He sighed and put his head down on a table, wondering what to do next. When he turned his head to the side, he noticed a door in the far side of the library. He picked his head up.

 _Has that door always been there?_ He wondered. He stood and walked towards the door, trying to remember if the door had always been there. _Have I not noticed it til now?_ He twisted the knob, saddened to find it locked. Nearly defeated, Soler had an idea. He looked around to make sure he was completely alone, then proceeded to pick out one of his quills.

"Well, I'm sure Twi won't be too upset if I just see what's on the other side of this door." He murmured to himself as he proceeded to pick the lock. He hadn't had to pick a lock with his quills too many times, but for some reason he enjoyed the resourcefulness of having hundreds of lockpicks at his disposal. It took him a bit, but he eventually heard that wonderful _*click*_. The sound of success. He smirked at his work and opened the door. When he went inside, he was surprised to find just a big mirror. The mirror had a number of objects attached to it, but in the end, it was just a mirror. He walked up to it and saw his reflection, confused.

"Why keep this locked away in some room? It's just a mirror." He wondered aloud. He sighed, feeling as if he had just wasted his time. Gazing into the mirror, he could swear there was something on his face. He brought his face close to it and his nose touched the mirror, but instead of feeling glass, his nose went through it. Taken by surprise, Soler quickly jumped back, and then slowly placed his hand on the mirror, which went through it.

"Woah! Is this some kind of portal? Cool!" He said. He looked back at the door and went up to it, then went right back in front of the mirror. "I'm sure if I just step through for a bit, no one will know I'm gone. And plus, it'll be pretty cool to see this other world." Feeling mischievous, he took a deep breath and put one foot in, a strange sensation. Once he got used to the feeling, he jumped right in. He doesn't remember what happened when he went through the portal, just that everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he realised he was on the ground in front of some school.

"Ow, my head." Soler said, going to touch his quills, finding hair on his head instead. "Hmm? Hair?" He looked at his hands and saw his usual gloves replaced with a fingerless pair. He got up slowly, keeping his balance, and ran to to school doors. He looked at his reflection in the glass and had a slight freak out.

"I-I'm human?" He exclaimed. _(He looks like how he does in Mobius & Equestria story. If you haven't read it, check it out!)_ Examining himself, he surprisingly fancied the clothes he wore. "Hmm, not bad. Well now, let's see what this school has to offer." The hedgehog-turned-teen walked into the building. Upon entering, he found it desolate and empty.

"Hmm, wonder where everyone's at?" He asked aloud.

"The students are all in class, though not for much longer." He heard a familiar voice say. He turned around to be met by a woman wearing dark purple pants, with a light purple shirt that had a white collar with a crescent moon on it. Wearing white heels, her hair was at-once a dark navy as well as a faded blue. Her teal eyes were strong as she looked at him.

"Uh, what?" Soler responded, his mind racing with thoughts. The two were about the same height as they looked each other eye-to-eye. She sighed as she walked towards him.

"Well it doesn't matter much. There was only a few minutes left of classes anyway. I hope you enjoy your weekend, Soler. And please, try to stay in class till the final bell." She told him as she strutted away. Soler stood there, dumbfounded.

"Was that Lun-" The school bell rang loudly, snapping him out of his thoughts. Then students eager to start their weekends started piling out of classes. Soler was bumped around by the busy students as he the crowd dragged him outside. With some struggling, he was able to get out the crowd and was pushed to the ground.

"Yeesh! You would think they'd never been out of school." He complained to himself.

"Oh, do you need some help?" He heard a voice say. He looked up to see a girl with long pink hair holding her hand out for him.

"Oh, thanks." He said as she helped him up.

"It's no problem, Soler. Though I thought you'd be with Sunset right now, I remember her needing you for something." The girl said.

"Oh, uh, yeah. She did, but, uh, she realised she could handle it so she said she didn't need my help anymore." He stuttered quickly. The girl looked at him questionably for a second, but just smiled and nodded.

"Well ok then. So do you want to head over to the cafe? We're all meeting there today." She asked. Soler didn't know if he should go, it seemed like he was already getting himself in too deep, but if this girl is who he thinks she is, he wanted to see if the others were here too.

"Uh, sure thing, Fluttershy. Let's head on over. You, uh, lead the way." He said with a smile. Fluttershy just nodded back and the two left for the cafe. The two quickly made their way to the cafe and Soler was met by the smell of coffee beans and acne. He took in a big whiff and exhaled.

"Ah, teenagers." He commented.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh nothing, Flutters. So where do we sit?" He asked. He didn't have to wait long as he looked over to see some girls and guys in a decent-size group with one of the girls waving to them. Soler gulped as Fluttershy waved back and the two began to walk over to them.

 _Ok, play it cool. They think I'm the Soler of this world, so just act as normal as possible._ He thought. The two walked up to the table and were greeted by most of the group. Soler took a seat next to Fluttershy as he examined the table of people.

 _Yep, everyone from home is here. From Twilight to Tails, Knuckles and Applejack, Rainbow and Sonic. Heck, even Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Shadow are here too._ He thought, before looking at the silver-haired teen for a bit longer than the rest. _Hmm, silver hair. That must be Silver. Strange, back on Mobius, I rarely ran into Silver. I mean, it seems like he just pops up out of nowhere with some problem or mission, then once it's over, he's gone again._ He didn't realise he was still looking at him, baffling Silver.

"What is it?" Silver asked.

"Oh nothing, Silver. Just was in thought is all." He said. Silver just shrugged and let it go.

"So where's Sunset, Soler? I thought you two were doing something before heading here?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, uh, well, she didn't need me for what she had to do, so she said she'll handle things on her own and catch up." He explained nervously.

"Hmm, maybe I should text her to see-"

"No, no, don't worry about it. She should be catching up soon enough. So how have classes been for you guys?" He said, trying to change the subject. At that, the small group started talking about classes and some test that was hard or something. All in all, they were having a good time with each other, laughing and talking about. Soler didn't say anything, he just watched. He didn't notice, but a slight smile crept on his face while watching the group of teens.

 _Man, this version of me has it lucky. No bad guys to beat, or villains trying to destroy everything. Just normal teenage stuff like school, work, relationships. No worries._ He thought. Then his smile faded as he looked down. _Wow, makes me think I never really had an easy life like this. I don't have full memories of my childhood, and my early teenage years weren't that amazing either. From wandering from place to place, fighting random thugs, then finding a home and loved ones, only for it to be taken away._ His fist tightened up as he thought, which Shadow and Sonic noticed.

 _And I can't say it gotten easier. No, it got harder. I did find great friends and allies, and met just as bad enemies. Hell, I even died, or came close to it, and I'm still here. To be honest, I think if I had never gone through any of that, I wouldn't have gotten stronger or found another love._ He smiled once more. _Hmm, I guess my life hasn't been so easy. But if it had been, I wouldn't be here today, able to say that I have friends and loved ones that care about me and that I'll risk my life for any day of the week._ Shadow's curiosity grew to a peak, and was about to ask Soler something.

"Hey, what are you sitting there smiling about?" Sonic asked him, causing everyone at the table to focus on Soler. He just smiled and said.

"You guys have it lucky." He said to no one. That took everyone by surprise.

"What was that?" Sonic asked. Soler just shook his head and looked up at him.

"Oh nothing bud, just talking to myself is all." He said, grinning at him, further shocking everyone.

"Why are you smiling at me?" Sonic asked, sounding offended.

"What? I can't smile at one of my closest friends?" At that, everyone at the table looked at him, not even knowing if he was even thinking straight.

"Woah, woah, woah. Closest friends? I barely want to consider us friends, but closest friend? Ha! You must be out of your mind." Sonic said.

"Oh come on man, you know we're almost like brothers." Soler retorted. Sonic became slightly upset, rising and pulling Soler up by the collar.

"Are you trying to start something again?" Sonic threatened.

"Here we go." Rainbow muttered under her breath. Soler looked at him nervously.

"What? No, I don't wanna fight you. Why would I want to fight you?" He asked. Sonic looked at him weirdly and put him down.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Soler responded.

"Soler, seriously, are you okay? Because you haven't been acting like yourself. You never call Sonic you're closest friend and mean it." RD chimed in. At this point, the others were thinking the same thing and were all staring at him. His mind raced, now knowing that he was blowing his cover.

"Uh… Uh… Well you see, uh…"

"Hey guys, finally made it. Sorry it took longer than I thought." A voice said. Everyone looked over to see Sunset smiling at the group.

"Sunset, you made it, darling." Rarity exclaimed

"Yeah, it took a bit longer than we thought, but we finally finished. Soler should be here in a sec-" She stopped talking when she saw Soler standing right in front of her. He awkwardly smiled and waved.

"Wait, how did you get in here before me?" She asked. Soler laughed nervously.

"Heheh. Well, you know how fast I am Sunset." He responded, forcing her name a little. Before she could question him, another voice popped up.

"Man, red, glad we got that job done." A familiar voice said. Everyone looked to see Soler walking up to them, much to all their shock,

 _Aww shit_. Soler looked at Soler with a mixture of emotions and thoughts running through his head. _(For convenience, let's call hedgehog Soler… Soler, and human Soler… Sol… Yeah)_ Sol and Soler stared at each other, much like the rest of the group looked at the two in shock. Soler then faked yawned.

"Well, look at the time. Gotta get going gang, even though it's been tons of fun." He said, shaking Sunset's hand and patting Sol on the shoulder as he made his way to the door. "I'd love to hang, but I gotta juice." He boomed away, leaving everyone standing in the cafe, too stunned to say anything.

"Wait, was that me? That's not possible, that's wait…" Sol stopped speaking and looked at the group. Then, he ran charged after Soler. Everyone snapped out of it once he left.

"Ok, I'm not the only one who saw two Solers now, am I?" Rainbow asked. Everyone nodded. "Ok good. Don't want to think I'm the only one going crazy." A thought came to mind.

"Wait, two Solers? I don't think we're going crazy. Come on, we need to head to the school." With that, the group immediately headed for the high school. Soler made it back to the school and was glad to find no one around.

"Ok, coast is clear. Now I just gotta find the portal back." He said before deadpanning, "Crap! I never saw the portal that got me here! Okay, don't panic. Think about it, the first thing I saw when coming into this world, the first thing I saw was…" Soler looks at the only thing in the courtyard, the statue. "Of course! The statue, duh." He walked towards it. Before he could touch it, he got tackled out of nowhere. When the two hit the ground, Soler kicked off his attacker and quickly got back to his feet. To his slight surprise, he saw that it was himself that attacked him. Sol glared at him,

"What, and who, are you? And why do you look like me?" Sol demanded.

"Listen, it's a long story, but I'm you, just not from this dimension. I'm not here to fight, so no need to be hostile." Soler said. Sol didn't appear very convinced.

"I don't know. You could be some new invention that Eggman created to try to stop me, so I can't just let you go." He replied, creating two Chaos Spears. Soler sighed and tried to create a Spear. He huffed when all he got was sparks of energy.

"Welp, I still can't fully use my Chaos Energy yet." He said.

"See? If you were me, then creating some Spears would be cakewalk."

"Yeah? Well you try creating Spears after using all of your energy to fight a robot-dragon-god-thing. Ya know what? Never mind." Soler got into a fighting stance. The two entered a stare-down, trying to anticipate what the other was going to do, weirdly trying to fight themselves. Sol then made the first move, and dashed right at him, his Spears at the ready. Soler dodged his slashes without a problem. Soler read his movements pretty well, since he was basically fighting himself. He knew what he was going to do more times than not. Sol didn't think about this as he continued to attack. As Soler kept dodging the barrage of attacks, he smirked at the teen's vain attempts to strike him down. Sol slashed at Soler, who grabbed his arm and used his other hand to grab the back of his neck, pinning him in place. Sol couldn't fight back.

"W-what! How did you-"

"Come on kid, you're fighting yourself here. I know my own blind spots." Soler boasted. Sol struggled, but couldn't get out of his grip.

"Come on! Let me go so I can beat you already."

"I'll let you go if you listen to me instead of attacking."

"Tough luck, faker!" Sol retorted.

"Huh, so that's how it feels." Soler said to himself. As the two struggled, the rest of the group caught up to them. Soler looked over to them.

"We meet again." He said.

"Yeah, we do. Mind letting our Soler go?" Sunset asked. Soler nodded as he pushed Sol over to them. Sol rubbed his shoulder, somewhat sore from the awkward position. As soon he was done rubbing his shoulder, Sol prepared to charge back in, but Sunset stopped him.

"What? We gotta stop this faker. He could be a bad guy." Sol exclaimed.

"Trust me, he's not our enemy." Sunset explained. Sol was about to argue, but her eyes told him to trust her judgement, and so he relaxed. Soler breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally, someone listens. Thanks, red."

"It's no problem at all, just tell me why you're here." She requested.

"Oh, no special reason. It was boring over on the other side. I did some exploring, found a mirror, and now I'm here. Speaking of which, I should probably get going." He said.

"Yeah, I think that's best. Don't want people seeing two of the same person." Sunset replied.

"Yeah, that's true." Soler said. He went over and was about to touch the portal, when he seized a nearby rock and threw it at the statue. And to his pleasure, it went through. "Sweet, still open. Welp, later guys." He took one step into the portal and stopped again. He turned and looked to Sol and smiled at him.

"Hey kid, you got a good deal here, okay? So make sure you protect this and them with your all, okay?" He asked. Shadow could see in his eyes that he'd been through much more than he lead on. Soler saluted them and left. Everyone stood there for some time, gazing at the portal.

"Hmph, well I think I could've beat him." Sol said confidently.

"No. At your current power, you'd lose." Shadow said. Everyone looked to him.

"And why do you say that?" Sol asked.

"His eyes. He's been through much more than anything you've ever been through. His experience heavily outweighs yours." He explained. Sol sighed, not liking when Shadow made him seem weak, even though he felt he was right.

 _I wonder what he's been through?_ He wondered.

Soler made it back through the portal and immediately felt his head, glad to be a hedgehog again.

"Man, being human is different. Loved the extra height, but not losing my quills." He said aloud. He turned to look at the portal and smiled.

 _I'll do my best to protect my friends too._ His thought were interrupted by the door suddenly opening.

"What are you doing in here?" He heard a voice say. His body tensed up as he turned to look and saw Twilight and Shadow standing in the doorway, looking at him.

"Twilight, Shadow, what are you guys doing here?" He asked nervously.

"Everyone decided to meet up here once we had some freetime. What are you doing here?" She responded. He quickly glanced around for some way out and found the rock he threw.

"Oh, I just dropped my rock." He said, quickly picking up the small rock. "Yeah, well I got my rock, so I'll just be going now." He shot his way out of the room between the two. The others were in the library and were all giving him a confused look as he speed-walked towards the door. Shadow looked at the door-lock and examined it.

"Twi."

"Yeah?"

"He picked the lock." Twilight glared at the existing hedgehog.

"Oh really?" Soler was almost at the door.

 _Just a bit further…_ Then he suddenly realized he wasn't touching the ground anymore.

"Soler! We need to talk about personal privacy." Twilight said as her horn glowed. Soler made a weeping face as she slowly levitated him towards her.

 _Help me!_ He thought.

 _That's it folks for this one. This is the first of just some random tales that have been cooked up in my brain. And trust me not all of them will be this long. Also to those who have asked for requested things like something they would like to see happen I amy actively working on those chapters just since I'm taking those much more seriously it's taking a bit longer to get them done since I don't want to let any of you guys down. Also if you haven't already I've posted a new story so please check it out when you feel up to it. And I can't say this more thank you guys for reading my stories it means so much to me that you guys are enjoying it and I'll try my best not to let you guys down. Anyway this is Solerwolf...OUT!_


	34. Chapter 34

_Some time to reconnect with loved ones... (Idea was submitted by_ _ **mMLPxSonic**_ _)_

 _ **Your Time Before Me**_

 _ **(P.O.V. Knuckles & Applejack, Ponyville)**_

It was another beautiful day in Equestria as an echidna and pony relaxed together in the fields outside of town. Knuckles lied on his back with AJ cuddled up next to him, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Knuckles looked over at his dozing girlfriend and smiled before giving her a quick kiss on her forehead.

 _Can't believe that the townies pitched in to help the farm until things were back to normal again_ , Knuckles thought, enjoying the massive amount of time to relax he had, enabling his well-spent time with AJ. _I wonder how I got so lucky with her._ Looking up at the sky, he watched the clouds float through the sky, without an agenda. A breeze blew through, rustling the fresh scent of grass into the air around them move around them. Knuckles sighed silently.

 _Should I really be here?_ He wondered. AJ shifted a bit before opening her eyes.

"Knux, everything okay?" She asked. He looked at her and smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, everything is fine, AJ. I'm just thinking, is all." He answered. She just nodded and gently rubbed her hoof on his chest, looking down.

"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.

"Home." He answered. As confident as AJ was when it came to love and relationships, she wasn't too confident in knowing what to say or do, and it didn't help that the one she loved was from an entirely different world from her. From the time they spent in Manehattan, she'd learn just bit about his life. AJ's wanted to ask about his past, but she couldn't tell when, or if, there was ever a good time to bring it up. She didn't want him to ever be upset, be it at her or through remembering something he doesn't want to remember. But she felt that this time was better than any to ask him. She sat up, which confused him.

"Knuckles, could I ask ya somethin?" She queried a little tensely. He sat up as well and looked at her worriedly.

"Yeah, of course. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just something I've been wanting to ask ya for a while now. I wanna ask about ya past." She relayed to him carefully. Knuckles looked at her, a little less concerned, understanding her sudden change of nature.

"Well-"

"I mean, ya don't have to if you don't wanna. I'd hate to make ya upset and-" Knuckles cut her off with a kiss.

"AJ, it's fine. I'll tell you anything if you just ask, including my past." He said. She smiled slightly, nodded, and prepared to listen.

"So where to start? Hmm… Well, I guess I'll start with when I was a kid, I guess. I grew up in a small clan of echidnas on Angel Island, and it was my clan's duty to protect the Master Emerald. So the duty of Guardian was passed down from generation to generation. Well, long before I was born, there was an incident that nearly wiped out my entire clan. See, the Master Emerald houses a Chaos Spirit that was angry at my clan. The Emerald shattered, and released the Spirit, and it went on a rampage, killing my clan." He started. AJ was visibly shocked a bit from what she's heard so far.

"Yeah, we would've been wiped out completely if it wasn't for this one girl named Tikal. Tikal could communicate with Chaos and quell its rage, but in the process, she sacrificed herself to keep it calm and inside the Master Emerald. Well, one of the survivors of the massacre, my parents, made it out and and had me. Since my mom died after my birth, leaving me with my dad. He raised me and taught me things and told me of my duty since I was next in line. Well, once I was around 14, my dad died, leaving me to protect the Island and Emerald on my own." He added, before pausing.

"Gosh Knuckles, I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like you grew up rough." She said. He just nodded.

"Yeah. My childhood wasn't the best, but I had a duty to do, and I wasn't going to let my clan down." He said with pride.

"So if you were on that Island, how was it that you met Sonic and the others?"

"Well that's coming up next. So I was on the Island, protecting the Emerald for a few years completely alone and isolated. That changed when Dr. Eggman appeared on my Island."

"Eggman that evil scientist feller?"

"Yeah, that's the one. He had made a giant fortress name the Death Egg, and it was floating near my Island. I didn't know what it was, though I knew it wasn't good, but before I could do anything the Doctor showed up. He told me he was researching the Death Egg, and was trying to find a way to stop it. He also told me that there was going to be a blue hedgehog named Sonic and a yellow fox named Tails that were trying to steal the Master Emerald. And I believed him." He said, a bit embarrassed. Applejack nodded warmly, much to his pleasure judgment.

"So this Eggman feller tricked ya into thinking Sonic and tails were the bad guys. What happened next?"

"Well, I believed Eggman and went off to wait for them to show up so I could stop them, not knowing that Eggman had taken the Master Emerald while I was away. Well, I found the two and we fought, they won. They told me that they were really there to stop Eggman by collecting the Chaos Emeralds and shutting down the Death Egg. If there was anything I hated besides intruders, it's being tricked, so I helped them stop Eggman, and got the Master Emerald back." He said.

"Wow, sounds like you and Sonic had a rough start, but things seemed to work out in the end." She said, grinning. Knuckles grinned back.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Well, it wasn't the last time Eggman showed up to my Island. Over time, he made countless attempts to steal the Emerald, but normally I'd be able to drive him off, or Sonic would be on his trail, and we'd take him down together. Well there were some times where Eggman's plans succeeded. Remember when I told you about the Spirit in the Master Emerald?' AJ nodded, "Well, Eggman found a way to break the Master Emerald and unleashed Chaos again." AJ's disturbed look was as the red echidna had expected it to be.

"Yeah, I was the same way too, but I couldn't take it in, since Angel Island fell from the sky into the ocean when the Emerald was shattered. So, with the Emerald shattered, I went off to find the Shards. Luckily, I was able to find them all, but Chaos had gotten all the Emeralds because of Eggman, and was on the verge of destroying everything."

"Well how did ya'll stop him?" She asked, caught up in his story.

"Well the whole time I was after the Shards, Sonic was after the Chaos Emeralds. But when Chaos got to them first, it looked like the Emeralds were drained of all their power. We thought we were done for, but Tikal's spirit came to us and told us of the positive and negative energy of the Emeralds, and that Chaos only used the negative energy. So Sonic focused, and was able to turn super with the positive energy and defeated Chaos." He finished. AJ was awed by the tale.

"Wow Knux, I never would've thought you'd gone through all that!" She exclaimed. Knuckles chuckled.

"Yeah, well that wasn't the only time something like that's happened. The Master Emerald has been shattered more times than I'd like to admit, and I've even had to shatter it myself a couple of times to keep it out of some bad guys' hands. That includes Shadow, but that's for another time." He replied. AJ beamed at him, causing him to blush, "What?"

"Well, from your stories, I've learned that you've been through a lot of struggles, and nun of'em sounded easy for ya. But ya never gave up, no matter what trials you faced, and it made ya stronger for it. It's really something somepony could be inspired by." She said. Knuckles just looked at her and saw the admiration she had him and all he's done, making him forget his previous troubles and worries. His lip quivered slightly as he quickly brought her in for a tight hug, much to her surprise.

"I'm really lucky to have you, Applejack. I love you so much." He said as a single tear escaped an eye. Applejack smiled and wrapped her hooves around him, keeping him close.

"I love you too, Knuckles." The two held their embrace for a while longer before releasing each other. Then, they shared a tender kiss, making the day unforgettable for the two of them. They snuggled for the rest of the day, enjoying peace they had found.

 _And that's a wrap. This idea was submitted by mMLPXSonic, someone who's been reading since Ch. 1, which I appreciate dearly. I hope I made you proud with this little moment between these two. So to any who still want to submit an idea for a chapter or something they would like to see happen, I'm still taking submissions. Anywho, thanks for reading, and this has been Solerwolf… OUT!_


	35. Chapter 35

_Unlikely beings meet and all while on a run…(Idea by nintedosegahasbrofan...hope I made ya proud)_

 _ **New Faces in Weird Places**_

"Man, where am I?" Soler wondered as he trekked through the Everfree Forest, "Why am I even out here again?" Then, he remembered his morning before his trek.

 _ ***Flashback***_

Soler yawned as he listened to Tails.

"So you see, I think this would be a great time to try and explore the Everfree Forest and try to get a map of the place." He said. The others had also convened in the castle.

"Well I agree that having some sort of data on the Everfree Forest would be excellent, but it's just so dangerous for anypony to fully explore." Twilight countered.

"Yeah. I mean, the weather there is just so random. I mean it rains there with no weather team moving any cloud over it." Rainbow added. Soler rolled his eyes.

 _I don't think that's how weather really works, RD._ He thought before yawning once more.

"Well that is true, darling, but let's not forget about all the creatures in there." Rarity paused as she shivered in recollection, "They're just ghastly."

 _I'm sure a mouse is just ghastly to you, Rarity._

"Yeah, that's another good reason to explore it. We could document the wildlife there and maybe get some samples to study later." Tails added. Everyone looked around, all somewhat in agreement with him, despite the inherent dangers. Tails sighed. "Okay. I understand it's dangerous, but we can't let this opportunity slip by. Come on, I even have a way to map the area if only one person went in. So any volunteers?" No one was quick to sign up. Soler, who was partially dozing, heard what sounded like 'souvenirs,' and raised his hand to ask a question. Tails brightened up at seeing Soler's raised hand.

"See? Soler here isn't scared. Thanks Soler, I'll get you prepped up right away." He said. Soler seemed confused by what just happened.

"Wait, what?"

 _ ***End Flashback***_

"Oh yeah, I volunteered for this." He sighed. When his communicator rang and he picked it up. "What's up, Tails?" Soler kept moving through the forest.

"Just wanted to check to see how you're doing. Your communicator is giving mine a strong signal of where you're going and the area around you, so you're doing great." He replied.

"Well I'm glad it's working, bud. Just how long do I have to be out here? And what if I get lost?" The hedgehog asked, slapping away a bug on the side of his arm.

"Don't worry. I have that planned out too. Just when you feel like you've done enough… Just… Pres… The.." Soler looked at his communicator.

"Tails, you're going all staticy. Say it again."

"I… Press… Sig-" It went to straight static. Soler tapped the screen a bit, but it remained static. He groaned.

"Great. Now I'm out here with no way of knowing where I'm going or where I'm at. This is just fan-tucking-fastic." He muttered, kicking a small rock. Soler carried on in the hopes that his communicator would start working again, though the forest seemed to never end. He kept going and eventually, the forest started to open up a bit, only for a sudden fog to roll in.

"Well this can't be good." He noted as he kept walking, while the fog grew thicker the more he walked. Unable to feel any trees around him, Soler couldn't tell if he was still in the forest or not. The fog made it so that he could only see a few feet in front of himself. "Come on fog, let up already." It seemed that he was walking through it forever, but it dissipated as quickly as it came. He started regaining his vision as it went away, and soon saw a castle standing before him.

 _Hmm, must've made my way back to the old castle out here._ He thought, getting closer to it. _Wait. I've never seen this castle before._ He stopped and took a look at his surroundings. The castle was sitting in a clearing within the forest.

"Okay. So I think I'm more lost than I think I am." He said, looking up at the castle. Deciding he might as well take a look around, he walked up to the main doors and knocked on them and waited a few seconds.

 _Well, if nobody's home, I'm sure the residents won't mind if I take a look around._ He proceeded to open up one of the doors enough so he could get through and entered. As he went inside, Soler was oblivious to the fact that two beings just arrived home.

Soler walked into a massive chamber with chandeliers hanging and candles lit all along the walls. The decor of the room resembled some sort of royalty, but he'd never seen the banners and drapes and symbols before. He looked down the room at two thrones that existed for some reason. He looked around and discovered a door off to the side and decided it was time for some exploring, so he dashed off to the door and ran through it. He ran throughout the castle, seeing all it had to offer and

 _Gotta admit, it's a pretty nice place_. He realized in awe of over a dozen bedrooms, each with its own bath, a kitchen, dining room, main bathroom, library, and East and West wings. He came to a stop when he entered a room that looked like some sort of meeting area, since there was a big circular table with exactly eleven chairs around it. But what got him the most was that behind each of the chairs, banners with strange symbols hang from them. He shrugged it off and kept exploring, eventually finding his way back to the main chamber with the thrones.

"Man, this place is impressive." He said aloud, "I wonder who lives here."

"We do." He heard a voice. He jumped and looked behind himself, seeing a Mobian and an Equestrian standing there, almost glaring at him. The hedgehog reminded Soler of Sonic with the way his quills were, except his quills were a lighter shade of blue and tipped with green, an orange streak on the top on his middle quill. He wore a dark blue jacket with hints of purple in it as well. His gloves were a red that had a image of what looked like a flame on them. His shoes were a green with a silver buckle on each on, and he looked upset at Soler.

The Equestrian standing next to him was an –

"An Alicorn!? Really!? So there's six of you guys now." He said, confusing her.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, just continue the descriptions." He said. (Author continues with an expectant "Ahem.".) As I was saying, she was a peach-colored Alicorn. Her brown mane and eyes were accompanied by a heart for a Cutie Mark. The two stared at him as he did at them.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The alicorn asked, her voice soothing but strong at the same time. Soler looked between the two, trying to figure out what to do. He got an idea and quickly straightened himself up.

"My name is Sir Soler the Hedgehog, and I demand to know what you two intruders are doing in my castle." He said, trying to sound proper like Rarity. The two looked at each other, then back at him.

"Really?" The hedgehog asked. Soler smirked and shrugged.

"Best I got." He responded. The hedgehog got into a battle stance.

"Don't worry, Alexa. I'll evict him quickly."

"Sky-" She said, but he was already charging at Soler. Sky charged Soler and quickly tried a homing attack on him, but Soler dodged it just before it hit. He looked back at Sky with an unimpressed face.

"Come on, a homing attack? That's all you got?" He asked. Sky only chuckled.

"Just warming up. You haven't seen anything yet." He said. Soler simply shrugged and entered a battle stance as well. Sky charged at Soler again, but Soler decided to run from him. He ran quickly, trying to reach the door. But Sky cut him off and kicked him in the side of his head, sending Soler flying a few feet to the side. He stood and glared at him.

 _Okay. So the kid wants to fight. I tried to just leave, but I'd hate to be a bad guest._ He thought. Soler tried to from a Chaos spear, but only sparks of energy came out. He sighed. _Still can't use all my Chaos energy yet._ He shrugged it off and quickly closed the gap between the two, catching Sky off guard with his sudden speed. Soler was about to land a punch but Sky dodged it with ease and countered with a gut punch, surprising Soler. He swiftly created distance, but Sky rushed him again, keeping Soler in close range, forcing close combat. As they threw punches and kicks, Soler was shocked.

 _This guy's dodging so easily!_ Soler realized when his feint was countered effortlessly. Sky was gaining the upper hand on Soler, who was on the defensive. Sky got in series of quick jabs on Soler, finishing with a strong kick to the gut. This sent Soler skidding a few feet across the ground. Sky brushed some dust off the side of his jacket as Soler recovered, breathing heavily.

"Okay, timeout. How are you doing that?" Soler asked. Sky just looked at him, slightly confused.

"Doing what?"

"Dodging all my attacks. I mean, I can understand dodging some of them, but I literally haven't gotten a hit on you this whole fight. You have to have some ability or some trick or something." Soler said, eliciting a chuckle from Sky.

"A trick? Ever think that I'm just better than you?" His response prompted Soler to laugh.

"Yeah, fat chance, pal. I can tell when there's more going on then what it seems, and there's definitely more going on here." Soler retorted.

"It doesn't matter if there is or isn't. You're going to be blown away soon enough." Sky said, bringing his hands together as a wind started rushing around the draftless room. The wind swayed objects about the room as its strength grew. Soler looked at him, trying to prepare for the attack, but couldn't help seeing that the alicorn was still there, staring right him. Her eyes looked like she was trying to decide something about him, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He lost his train of thought when he looked back at the now-ready hedgehog. The wind followed Sky's hands as they moved in a circular motion before he made a pushing motion towards Soler, and all the wind rushed Soler with incredible force. It was powerful enough to blow the door behind Soler wide open. Soler struggled to hold his ground, as his footing slowly gave way, pushing him back. Sky saw this and amped up the wind. Unable to hold his ground any longer, the wind threw Soler out of the castle, landing with a thud on the ground.

"Okay. He can pull off some pretty strong wind. Who is this guy?" He said. Sky came walking up to the open doors and slowly made his way to Soler. Soler tried to quickly get back up, but that last attack shook him to the point of staggering. Sky made it over to him and hovered over him. He was about to grab Soler, but stopped when he heard something moving around in the forest. Then forest timberwolves leaped out of the treeline, growling at the two hedgehogs. Sky sighed.

"Well, it seems we'll have to finish our fight later. Be back in a sec." He said, running off to meet the wolves. Soler watched him leave and sat up, still recovering from that last attack.

"Man, that wind did more than just push me back. It made me all staggery." Soler said aloud.

"Yes, Sky's wind packs more of a punch than it seems." He heard a voice say. He looked behind himself at the alicorn who had come out and was standing behind him.

"Oh. So I'm guessing you're here to finish me off, huh?" Soler asked. She shook her head.

"No, I have no intent. See, Sky tends to rush right in if he thinks something a treat. That led to your fight, but as I watched you two fight, I could feel that you mean no harm to us. So which leads me to ask again, why are you here?" She responded.

"Listen, I really don't mean any harm, like you said. I just got lost in some fog while exploring the forest, and I wound up here at your castle. I was really on my way back out when you two came back." Soler explained. She nodded and smiled.

"Well it seems we owe you an apology, so let me make it up to you." The tip of her horn started to light up as she placed the tip of it on the top of Soler's head. He instantly felt any sort of pain or exhaustion leave his body, pulling out a relaxed sigh from him. She removed her horn and Soler quickly shot back up to his feet, feeling rejuvenated.

"Man, magic. It never ceases to amaze me. Thanks, uh-"

"Alexa… Alexa Bird. Its nice to meet you." She said.

"Well, likewise, Al, pleasure's all mine." He said to her. Both turned to notice Sky was fighting off the group of timberwolves without too many problems, but they saw that one was slowly, stealthily stalking up to him.

"Oh no, he needs help." She said.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it. He seems to be able to see anything and everything that's coming his way." Soler said. Alex shook her head.

"No, his foresight has its limits. He doesn't see that one coming." She said. Soler's ear twitched.

"Did you say foresight? As in the ability to predict, or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future?" He asked, receiving a nod in response.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew he had to have some trick up his sleeve! Him saying, oh, maybe I'm just better than you." Soler said, but was cut off by Alex's glaring. "Oh right, helping him. Be right back." He dashed off to help Sky as he battled off two timberwolves. The third one was almost upon him, and pounced in a heartbeat. He saw the attack coming, but it was far too late and was ready to take the hit, but instead saw Soler kicking the wolf away. Soler then quickly homing attacked the other two wolves, forcing them back.

"Alex said you could use some help, Sky." He said and turned to look at him, "So what do you say we work together to stop these things?" Soler offered a hand, prompting a sigh from Sky, but he shook it anyway.

"Fine. Let's work together. I'm guessing I jumped the gun by attacking you, since you know our names. Sorry." He mumbled.

"Eh, no need to apologize. Just know I'm a better fighter than you and we're even." He said.

"What? If I remember correctly, you couldn't lay a finger on me, and you're still the better fighter?" Sky retorted.

"Why yes I am, since I don't have to rely on a foresight ability to see attacks coming before they come." Embarrassment came across Sky's face.

"She told you, huh?"

"Oh yeah, mister 'maybe I'm just better than you.' Now let's take care of these wolves." Soler said. The two hedgehogs made quick work of the wolves together, moving too fast for any of them to keep up with. The wolves sensed that they were no match and howled a retreat as they all quickly darted back into the woods. The two shared a triumphant fistbump at the sight of the retreating wolves.

"You two were amazing." Alex commented as she walked up to them.

"Yeah. We weren't too bad working together. Of course, there were a few times ol Sky here couldn't keep up with me, but he managed." Soler said smugly.

"What? Couldn't keep up? I could run circles around you." Sky countered.

"Listen, anytime you want to get beat in a race, I'm all game." Soler retaliated.

'You mean so I can beat you."

"No, I'll beat you."

"Nah, never."

"Always." The two hedgehogs went back and forth for a bit, until they heard Alex laughing at the two of them. They looked at each other, then both of them began to laugh at their silliness. Their laughter died down after a while.

"Welp, I'm guessing it's about time I hit the dusty trails. Gotta find out where I am and how to get back home. It's been fun Alexa, Sky." Soler said.

"Yes, please come back and visit." Alex said with a smile.

"Yeah, we still gotta have our race." Sky added. Soler smirked.

"Yeah, for sure. You two should come visit my friends someday. I'm sure you guys would get along." Soler said as he started making his way back into the forest. Alex and Sky waved good-bye until they could no longer see him. Soler walked through the forest for a bit, and then the sudden fog rolled back in.

"Aw, not again." He said. The fog had the same thickness as before. He couldn't see in front of himself for a few minutes because, just like last time, the fog quickly disappeared. He found himself in the thick of the forest again. He sighed, but then his communicator started going off. He looked down at it and turned it on.

"Hey Tails, where ya been, man?" He asked. Tails looked confused.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. You suddenly went static, and I couldn't track you anymore." He said.

"Hmm, how long was I gone for?"

"Just few seconds. Why?" Soler was shocked, and partially creeped out about this. It sent a chill down his spine.

"Uh, no reason. Hey Tails, how close to the exit am I of this place." He asked.

"Strangely enough, you're not that far away at all. If you keep going the way you are, you should make your way back to me in about five minutes. What happened in there?" Tails asked.

"Oh, uh, I'll just tell you when I get back, bud." And with that, Soler quickly made his way out of the forest, and back to Tails.

 _And that's a wrap on this action-packed chapter! Thanks to nintentdosegahasbrofan for the idea submission and I hope I did ya proud. The OC's in this chapter were not mine, Sky goes to nintendo while Alexa goes to AlexaLynnMlp. Anywho, this is the third chapter, so ya know, still taking requests. Anyhow, this has been Solerwolf… OUT!_


	36. Chapter 36

_Eh, just a bunch of mini tales this time… (Request by_ _ **Page Caster**_ _)_

 _ **Equestria Tales**_

 _*_ _ **Wonderbolts**_ _*_

"You sure you want to come with me?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I wanna see what all the fuss is about with these Wonderbolts of yours." Sonic said as he and Rainbow walked. "Plus, I don't want to waste Twilight's spell that helps me walk on clouds. Now lead on." Rainbow nodded before stopping, taking him by surprise.

"Why did we stop?" He asked. Rainbow giggled at that.

"Well, why do you think, blue?" She replied. Sonic considered what she said before responding. He quickly came to a realization and facepalmed himself, getting a laugh out of Rainbow. "Finally figured it out, huh?"

"Yes. We gotta go up now, don't we?" She bobbed her head.

"Yep! It's a bit up in the sky, since it's only pegasi are in the Wonderbolts. So now the question is how we are going to get you up there." She noted. An idea popped into Sonic's head.

"Well it's a long shot, but I got an idea."

"Oh yeah? What is it?" RD inquired. Sonic smirked.

"Well, my 'Sonic Wind,' of course. It should be enough to get me up there." He said. Rainbow looked at him blankly, with some disbelief in her face. "What? you don't think I can't do it." RD sighed.

"Well, not gonna lie, I have my doubts. I would say I could carry you, but I think you weigh a bit too much for me. So it seems that this is our best shot." She responded. Sonic had mixed feeling about what she said, but let it go and prepared himself. As Sonic focused, wind began to swirl around him. Rainbow backed off to give him space to work with. The wind around Sonic grew stronger, with the formation of a twister lifting him off the ground. He gradually went higher into the air, and then used the wind at its peak to shoot himself into the clouds at great speeds. Rainbow merely watched in astonishment.

"Hmm, never thought that he would, or could, actually do it." She commented as she looked up into the sky, unable to see him anymore. "Wonder how far he went." She waited to see if he would ever come down, still in disbelief at how high he had gone. Then, she saw a blue figure who seemed to be slowly falling from the sky. Rainbow was able to make out that it was Sonic flailing as he rocketed towards the ground. She watched with no intent to slow his fall, just so he could learn his lesson.

"Five… Four… Three… Two…-" She stopped counting when she heard the thud. "And he has landed." She trotted over to him, his head in the ground.

"Huh, so your face always does get dug into the ground when you crash land." She noted. He made a muffled noise in response, confusing the blue pegasus. "What was that?" Sonic attempted to pull his head out, but found himself stuck. He made the muffled noise again, this time motioning to his back. It took Rainbow a few seconds to put two and two together.

"Oh, you want me to help pull you out." She said. He gave a thumbs up in response. She flew behind him and wrapped her hooves around his waist. "Okay. On three. One… Two… Three!" She then started to pull while he pushed, until Sonic's head was popped out and he collapsed on her.

"Whew! Thanks, babe."

"No problem, blue." The two got up and brushed themselves off. "Well now, how are we going to get you up there?" Sonic pondered on the question for a second, before another idea popped into his head. He immediately grabbed his communicator.

"Soler. Soler, come in."

"Soler speaking." His friend responded.

"Hey, think you could come to my location? I need you're help. And be sure to bring an Emerald with you."

"Sure thing. Be there in a sec, blue boy." Soler responded. Sonic turned off the communicator.

"How's Soler going to help?" Rainbow asked. Sonic smirked confidently.

"Oh, you'll see." He boasted. In less than a minute, they could see Soler running up to them. He stopped in front of them with the skid of his shoes.

"Soler the hedgehog, at your service." He said with a bow. "So, what do ya need?" Sonic quickly got him up to speed on the situation at hand, Soler nodding all the while.

"Okay. So you need to get to this Wonderbolts' Academy, and you need my help with that. So what is it you want me to do?"

"Well I couldn't jump up there, so I thought that maybe you could use your Chaos Control to get me up there." Sonic said, proud of his idea. Soler laughed nervously at his request, which made both Sonic and Rainbow look at him curiously. "What? I thought my plan didn't sound so bad."

"Oh, it's not that your plan sounded bad. It's just, uh, I don't know if I can actually pull it off at the moment." Soler admitted. The couple raised their brows in perplexity.

"Wait, what do ya mean by that?" RD questioned.

"Well, uh, ya see, that fight with Neo took a lot more out of me than I thought. And using Chaos Synergy always takes away my Chaos powers for awhile, so I'm guessing that my energy is taking a longer time to come back since I'm in another world." He explained. The two considered this, leaving Soler in anticipation.

"Hmm. Well, that makes sense." Sonic said. Soler sighed in relief. "Well shoot, I was banking on you. Now what are we gonna do?"

"Why don't you ask Shadow?"

"You know why I don't ask Shadow."

"Oh yeah, he'll see it as a waste of time." Soler said. Sonic sighed.

"Yeah. Come on, Soler. Think you can try, just for me, this one time." He pleaded. Soler thought it over once more.

 _Hmm. Maybe my powers aren't coming back because I'm not pushing for them to come back._ He figured.

"Well, I guess giving it a shot won't hurt." He said.

"Alright! That's my boy!" Sonic cheered.

"Yeah, yeah. So how high up is this place?" Soler queried.

"A few hundred feet up. High enough in the sky for training, but close enough to the ground in case of crashes." Rainbow answered. Soler nodded and collected himself.

"Okay RD. You go on and fly up there. I'll teleport up to you, since I know your energy and can teleport next to you. I'll give you ten seconds to get there." He said. RD saluted and zipped off. The two hedgehogs waited until Soler pulled out his Emerald. "Okay Sonic, you ready?"

"Sure am." He replied. Soler put a hand on him and focused energy into the teleportation. As he tried to charge, he felt his insides start burning up. He ended up having to pause and catch his breath.

"Soler, you sure you can do this?" Sonic asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about me. I gotta do this. One more time." Sonic nodded, letting his friend do what he must. Soler put his hand back on Sonic again, and began to charge some Chaos Energy. The burning returned, but he refused to give up. He felt he had just enough power when the pain grew unbearable. Sonic worriedly stared at Soler, whose face had gone red, and was sweating and breathing harshly.

"Dude, maybe we should-"

"No, I got this!" Soler strained. The pain was about to leave him unconscious. "Chaos Control!" The two disappeared.

 _ ***Wonderbolts Academy***_

RD paced about as she waited for the two to show up.

"Man, what's taking them so long?" She worried. Then Soler and Sonic appeared a few feet from her. Soler instantly fell to the ground his sweating and breathing growing harsher by the minute. Sonic and Rainbow rushed over to him. "Soler, you okay?"

"Y… Yeah… Just need… Time… To… Recharge. Gonna… Pass… Out now." The two looked at their unconscious friend, unsure of how to interpret that.

"I'll get some of the others to get a sick bay." RD said, calling over some help. Two pegasi flew over and she explained the everything. They nodded and carried Soler over to the sick bay.

"They'll let us know when he wakes up. So, you ready to meet the Wonderbolts?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. Let's do it." And the two walked off to meet the others. As the two walked, RD told Sonic all about the history of the Wonderbolts, and the different parts of the place. Sonic listened as he gazed around in amazement. There were pegasi all around, some in uniforms, while others were not, though still hard at work in perfecting their flying. It all seemed like a wonder to the hedgehog that he would even get to see a place like this in his lifetime, but there he was, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He enjoyed it more because RD loved having him with her. The smile on her face never left as the two continued through the clouds.

"Welp, that's everything there is here." She said, finishing the tour.

"Man, this place is pretty impressive. I can see why you wanted to get in so bad."

"Yeah, being a Wonderbolt has been my dream since I was a little filly. And now that I am one, it just pushes me to work harder and harder to get better." She said, her pride reignited. Her passion about her flying inspired Sonic to the point of beaming.

"So this is the other Mobian here, huh?" They heard a voice. They turned to see a yellow pegasus with an orange, two-toned mane, in drill sargent attire. The sun glinted off of his shades as he walked up to them.

"Oh, Captain, I was looking for you. I want you to meet someone." Rainbow said. "This is Sonic the Hedgehog, my stallion-friend from another world." Sonic waved.

"What's up? Nice to meet you." He greeted Spitfire. The pegasus examined the hedgehog as she walked around him, looking him up and down. Once she was satisfied, she smiled and nodded.

"Nice to meet ya, name's Spitfire." The two shook hoof and hand. "I gotta say, you and your friends did a good job saving Equestria. We wanted to help, but the Princess ordered us to keep watch over the cities in case it went there. Would've like to get a few shots on the thing that put Princess Luna in the hospital though." She admitted.

"Yeah, but it was really Soler that defeated Neo. We just defended Ponyville while he did." Sonic said.

"Either way, on behalf of the Wonderbolts, we thank you. So what brings you guys up here today?" She responded.

"Oh, I just wanted to show him the Academy, Captain. He's always asked what a Wonderbolt is and does. So now that we have some free time, I decided to bring him up here."

"Oh, well we aren't doing much today. So if anytime's a good time to visit, now would be it. How are you enjoying the visit?" She asked him.

"Well I think this place is great, to be honest. The atmosphere here makes me want to work harder, ya know." He replied.

"Yeah, that's how it is up here at Wonderbolts' Academy. Every flyer here is dedicated to the cause and we all push each other to achieve our goals and reach new heights. That's why I love being able to help lead and teach them." Spitfire said. The three watched the other flyers practice and work hard to get better. "Welp, I got work to do. So enjoy your visit, Sonic. One day, you and your friends are going to have to tell us Wonderbolts the story of battling that robot." She said as she began to walk away.

"Oh wait. Speaking of friends, how's Soler doing?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, the white hedgehog in the infirmary? Well they tell me that he's just sleeping now, and should be up in a bit. Later." The Wonderbolt Captain left the two.

"So, there anymore to this place, RD?"

"Hmm, I think I covered everything. Oh, let me show you some of the awards the Wonderbolts have gotten over the years." She said excitedly, dragging the hedgehog along. The two went into the main building of the Academy with RD giving another tour in the facility. She showed him the dining hall, locker rooms, rec room, gym, and even more. She ended the tour at the medals and trophies.

"Wow, you guys sure do got a lot of medals." Sonic commented as he examined them.

"We sure do. A lot of them were earned before I joined them, but I'm working on getting a few medals and trophies up there myself." She responded.

"Well with how you fly, that shouldn't be too hard." They turned as a white pegasus with a cobalt mane and tail walking up to them.

"Oh, hey Soarin, how's it going!"

"Going good, Dash. Who's the new guy?" He asked.

"This is Sonic, my special somepony. Sonic, this is Soarin, one of my teammates."

"Nice to meet ya, Soarin."

"Same here. I never thought Rainbow Crash here would ever slow down long enough to form a relationship." Soarin said as the two shook hoof-hand.

"Yeah, it's a good thing that I can keep up then." That made the two laugh.

"So what brings you two up here today?" He asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to show him around today, since not a lot is going on. I've showed him just about everywhere, so once our friend gets better, we'll probably be heading out." Soarin nodded.

"Oh, so that other guy in bed is with you. I figured as much."

"How is he, anyway?" Sonic inquired.

"Well, last time I was there, he was awake and sitting up. The medics were just getting him water and food, since he looked drained. Anyway, I got things to do. So later, you two." Soarin left the couple to themselves

"Welp, sounds like Soler's up. Wanna go check up on him?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, let's. I've shown you everything there is to this place, and the infirmary isn't far." With that, the two made their way to Soler.

When they walked into the infirmary, they saw Soler sitting up in a bed with a nurse talking to him as he ate an apple. They couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed they were just having a random conversation.

"So yeah, working as a nurse here ain't so bad. It has its benefits, and I do get to see all their shows." She said.

"Well that's something indeed. Tell me, how many crashes have you seen?" Soler asked.

"Oh, not many, really. I look after the main team, and they rarely has incidents. But with new cadets, there are crashes every now and then, but it's never anything too serious." She answered. Soler took another bite of the apple and nodded.

"Hmm, not a bad gig, then." They stopped conversing when they noticed Sonic and RD walking up to them.

"Nice to see you up again. That Chaos Control took a lot out of you, huh?" Sonic said.

"Yeah, way more than I thought it would. Don't think I'm gonna do that again for a while. But hey, at least I got you up here. How was your time here, blue?"

"It was great. Rainbow is a great tour guide." He said.

"Oh it was nothing, I just loved being able to share something I love with you." She said, smiling. Sonic grinned and wrapped an arm around her.

"Aww, ain't that cute." The nurse said.

"It's sickening." Soler responded, "So nurse, am I cleared to go?"

"Yeah, you should be fine. Just don't go doing what you did again, else you'll be in the bed again." She warned.

"Thanks. So, you two ready to go?" He asked as he stood.

"Yeah, we're ready. Let's get going." RD said. As the three left, Soler paused a moment.

"Oh, nurse. Tell your friend she's too good for that guy, and that I said hi." He added before leaving. Upon arriving to the runway, Soler was able to take a good look at the Academy.

 _Gotta admit, it's pretty impressive._ He thought, as the trio walked to the edge of the runway and looked down at the ground below, a question running through all their minds.

"How are we gonna get down?" The Hedgehogs asked in unison. They both looked to RD.

"What? I can't carry you two down, you're too heavy." She stated matter-of-factly. Both hedgehogs thought over this conundrum for a second and shuddered simultaneously. They looked at each other, defeated.

"Shadow."

"Shadow." Then they both sighed.

"Well, maybe he won't be so upset over something like this, since we're actually stuck." Sonic suggested.

"I don't know. He might just get more upset since I'm here and couldn't handle one Chaos Control." The two sighed again.

"Wait, what about Luna? I'm sure she'll help." Sonic said.

"Dude, I'm not just gonna ask my girlfriend to help us since she's an alicorn Princess. Plus, like I said, she's a Princess, so she's probably busy."

"True, true. Wait, what about Twilight?" Soler was going to disagree, but he paused on it.

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. I'm sure she'll help, so long as Shadow doesn't find out." They looked to Rainbow again.

"Hey babe, think you could get Twilight for us and see if she'll help?" Sonic asked.

"Sure thing. I'll be back." The aptly-maned pegasus flew off. The two hedgehogs sat on the runway and waited.

"Man, the breeze up here is nice." Sonic commented.  
"Yeah, there's something calming about being up in the sky." Soler added. The two just sat there for a bit, then they heard beating wings. It wasn't long until Rainbow and Twilight landed beside them.

"So, you two are stuck up here?" Twilight asked. They both nodded, and she sighed heavily.

"Shadow's gonna love to hear about this." She said as her horn lit up.

"Actually, we were wondering if-" They were cut off by her teleport spell.

"-Shadow didn't find out." Sonic finished as the four appeared in the castle library. They glanced around.

"Oh, that was quick. Thanks Twi, and we didn't even get in trouble with Shadow. Man, today was great." Sonic said. He didn't notice that the black hedgehog was standing right behind him. Soler sighed.

"So busted." He said. Sonic slowly turned around to a glaring Shadow.

"Heheh, hey Shadow. Long time no see."

 _ ***The Hedgehog and the Wolf***_

"So why couldn't Tails help you with this again?" Soler asked as he and Fluttershy moved through the Everfree forest.

"Because Tails had plans with Sonic and Knuckles today, and I'd hate to ruin them for him. Plus, you were free, so everything works out." She said. A sudden noise made her yelp and cling onto the hedgehog. He sighed and kept moving as she clung to his arm.

"You mean more like you waking me up from a nap and saying you need help with an urgent matter. And what is it that you need my help with and that involves the Everfree Forest?" He replied.

"Some ponies in town had said that a wolf had been seen coming in and out of the forest, and they're worried it might be dangerous." She responded. Soler stopped and gently pulled her off his arm and put her on the ground.

"Wait, so it's just an animal that's got us here? You sure it isn't just some Timberwolf or something?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No. Timberwolves stay further in the forest and don't come out near Ponyville, so it must be a real wolf. I just hope that it's okay, this forest is awfully dangerous." He sighed as the two kept walking. They walked in a bit deeper, without any signs of the wolf.

"Man, I hope this wolf shows up soon." Soler wished when they heard some rustling and came to a stop. He motioned Fluttershy closer. The rustling was just ahead of them, growing louder. Something popped out of the bushes with three Timberwolves chasing after it.

"That thing needs help. Fluttershy, fly back to your cottage. I'll meet you there later." She nodded and swiftly flew away. Soler could hear the direction they were going in and quickly pursued. The dense forest slowed Soler down, but the tracks made before him made following them easier. He ran through some bushes, and found that the three Timberwolves had cornered the thing. Soler jumped from behind them, and landed in front of the thing.

"Don't worry bud, I'll handle this." He said, entering combat with the timberwolves. Since he couldn't form Spears, he struggled a bit. In the end, Soler's speed allowed him to make short work of the three timberwolves and send them running. "Yeah, you better run!" He turned around and saw that the thing they were chasing was none other than the wolf Fluttershy had spoken of. The wolf's coat was the color of charcoal, broken up by a grey streak from its head to its tail. Its bright yellow eyes and bared teeth stared down Soler as it took a defensive posture.

"Woah, let's calm down bud. There's no need to be hostile, I just saved you after all." Soler said with his hands raised. The wolf refused to back down, until its back leg wobbled and it collapsed with a yelp. The wolf began licking a bloody wound on its leg. "Man, you're hurt. Let me help-" The wolf growled when he tried to approach.

"Hey, calm down bud. I promise I'm just trying to help, if you let me. I know someone who tends to animals, so please just let me help." He spoke to it gently. Their eyes locked, as if the wolf was looking into his soul. After a tense few seconds, the wolf yelped and dropped his glare, allowing Soler to approach it again. Soler petted the wolf to keep him calm. "That's a good boy. Now, let's get you back to my friend, okay? She can patch you up." Soler then carefully lifted the wolf and jogged back to Fluttershy's cottage.

"It's a good thing you got him here quickly or else this wound might've gotten infected." Fluttershy remarked to Soler as she tended to the wolf's wound. They were outside as she tended to the wolf. The wolf had calmed, and let her tend to him. Soler watched her work, and for some reason, the wolf had been watching him. "Alright, all done. You should be able to stand on it now." The wolf happily licked Fluttershy's cheek, bringing out giggles from the yellow pegasus.

"Oh, you're welcome." The wolf stood up and stretched a bit.

"Well I'm glad to see you up, bud." Soler told it. The wolf stared at him, putting him a tinge on edge. Its eyes were fierce, almost judgemental, but unsure of what to judge the hedgehog on.

"Hey Fluttershy, got any idea what he's doing?"

"Well, from what I know, it seems like he might like you. You did save him so he might've imprinted on you." She said. Soler looked back at the wolf.

"Is she right boy? Do ya like me?" He asked. The wolf walked up him and rubbed up against him. Soler petted him, getting him to wag his tail. "Well I guess she's right. So, wanna stay with me buddy?" The wolf happily barked in agreement.

"Well Fluttershy, welcome the new addition to the team. What should I call you? Hmm. What about just Wolf? Will that do?" He asked. Wolf barked in agreement. "Great, Wolf it is. How about we go give ya a bath, Wolf? You do kinda smell bud." Wolf smelled himself and whined.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Come on, let's go find a bath for ya. Later, Fluttershy." Soler said as the two walked off towards town.

 _That's the chapter! I know, this one is kinda short, but I did want to do Page Caster's idea, and also introduce a new character to the story. Yes, Wolf is officially part of the story from this point on. Okay, so news time. This will probably be the last filler chapter of this story. So the next time you hear from these guys, it'll be in the next story. I'm more than ready to get started on it, so I hope you guys are ready too! Anyway, this has been Solerwolf...see you in the next story!_


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